Kai

I had always believed that I would be long dead before my father ever passed, so I found myself at a loss as I stood in front of the long mirror by my wardrobe.

I ran my fingers across the cuts and bruises on exposed skin, wondering just how I had survived all the years spent under my father's thumb. Every moment yielded some sort of punishment, every second led to some sort of pain, and that was how I lived.

I ran my finger across a large scar on my lip, a cut from years ago, and anger flared through my body. My throat began to burn from the raw fury and my body shook. He had destroyed every moment of happiness that existed in my life for years, and he got away with it all. He paid none for his mistreatment, he would die as an old man who lived his life in luxury, and I would forever bear the scars of the torture he forced me to endure.

I threw my fist forward, colliding with the reflection of myself in the mirror, and tears streamed down my warm face. I was angry. I was tired. I was hurt.

My body looked sad and malnourished in the cracked glass, even under all the expensive clothes and accessories. The shirt and pants hung off my skin, showing just how small I had grown over the years, but I rolled my shoulders back and locked eyes with the distorted reflection.

I was no longer helpless, and my father would pay, dearly.

I stormed from my room, blood dripping from the small cuts that criss crossed my hand, and headed straight for my father's bedchamber. A maid stopped me halfway and tried to bandage my hand, but I refused to stop for her, only taking the cloth along. I had no time for that sort of thing.

I opened the door and stepped inside, closing it almost immediately to be sure no one would interrupt.

"Why are you here?" My father asked wearily. "You are supposed to be withering away in a cell."

"I decided to pay my dear father a visit before he passed on." I replied, venom dripping from every syllable.

"You are a disgrace, Kai. Oliver would make a more fit king, and the boy is only eight." He took a ragged breath. "You were always my least favorite."

I strode forwards, taking a chair in my hand and dragging it to his bedside, where I sat next to him.

"But I am the eldest, and your wife refuses her title." My voice low and threatening. "And you will die and I will take that throne from underneath your cold, dead fingers without a single ounce of pity or regret in my body."

He looked bewildered, as if he had never seen the part of me that could talk back and threaten.

"And with this newfound power," I whispered in his ear. "Perhaps I will begin writing Grohera's formal surrender to Madeo. How does that sound, father?"

His wrinkled face turned red with anger.

"You dare to even joke about speaking to that snake again?" He spat. "That boy, that monster made you weak!"

I slammed my hand into his bedside table and shot to my feet. The loud noise echoed through the room.

"You listen to me, old man!" I yelled, fury coursing through my veins. "Every single moment after you dragged me from Madeo, he was the only thing that pushed me to continue, to spite you! From the bitter winter morning you forced me to walk through the streets with little to nothing on, letting citizens throw their rottened food at me, to the long, lonely nights you secluded me to the little metal cells in the castle with no food or water, hoping I would die, Dax encouraged me to push through! You made me weak, father. He made me strong."

My father was silent for a moment, breathing raggedly.

"You, my son, have tainted our family name since the moment you were born." He wheezed and coughed, doing his best to gather oxygen. "That Magi should have killed you alongside your mother."

"But they didn't." I stated simply, falling back into my chair. "Every day of torture has led you to this moment. You will pay for your sins, I am sure of that."

He rolled his eyes at me and laughed.

"And you don't believe that you will as well? You are a man in love with another man, a Magi no less! You will burn in hell alongside me."

"Perhaps I will, Father, but that day is long in the distance for me. It will be years before I look the devil in the eyes, though I am unable to say the same for you."

We sat in a long and heavy silence, and for a moment I was convinced that he had already passed on from this world, but a tiny whisper escaped his dying body.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance."

I held back a laugh. "That is where we agree. Because now, I will take your beloved throne from beneath your cold fingertips and make it my own. Grohera will no longer be ruled by a monster who burnt away the remainder of his humanity, it will be ruled by me, a man in love with another man, and I will rip the innards from this god forsaken land and build a new kingdom." I stood, ready to leave the dying man's room. "And this is all thanks to you."

He strained to fight, to push back against my disrespect, but his body began to shut down. Each and every piece of him began to wither away, like candle light dying against the suffocating dark. His limbs relaxed against the bed, his head fell back to the pillow behind him, and the light in his eyes faded until it too became dull and lifeless. I watched as he left this world.

I did not stay long.

The moment I gathered myself, I stormed from the bedchamber as if all the demons in hell were nipping at my heels. My mind was spinning with the possibilities that presented themselves to me. I was no longer a puppet under the control of tyranny, I could do what I wished, go where I pleased.

I was the king of Grohera, and no one could take that from me.

A guard turned the hall, seemingly on his way to check on my father's well being, but I shot my hand out, stopping him in his tracks.

"King Bartram has passed. Send word to the high priestess to prepare for my coronation, inform her that I would like for it to take place quickly."

The guard was frozen in place, but soon realized what had been asked of him. He promptly bowed and forced words from his trembling lips.

"Yes," he paused. "My king."

He then turned on his heels and rushed off to complete his task.

Once I found myself alone, I knew that there was one final thing I had to do before word spread of my father's passing.

I walked solemnly towards my stepmother's bed chamber, and I found myself beyond glad that she and my father decided to sleep separately. I could tell her what had happened in private, without prying eyes and ears.

I knocked gently, my knuckles rasping against the hardwood shakily. I couldn't help but to feel anxious to inform her, afterall, this was her husband.

The door opened, but my eyes fell to unexpected guests in her chamber.

James, Peter, and Oliver all sat in the room, Oliver nestled into James' lap as he read an open book with him and Julie smiled with that warm, motherly love as she stood in the doorway.

"Kai, what a surprise! Your brother, James, and I were just talking about you." She greeted me with a warm hug, and I couldn't help but to melt into the embrace.

"We knew you would show up eventually, the four of us always end up in the same place, afterall." James laughed as he played with our youngest brother.

"Would you like to come in and sit with us for a moment?" Julie asked hopefully as she released me.

I gave her a weak smile, and her eyes flashed knowingly.

"Of course, but first could I speak to you in the hall?" My voice faded from the strength it held in my father's bedchamber. I was unsure if I could tell her.

"Yes, of course." She turned back to my brothers. "James would you mind too terribly to keep an eye on them for a moment?"

He shook his head and gestured for us to do what we needed, so Julie and I slipped out into the silent hall.

Julie was a tall woman with intense eyes, so I found myself shrinking away from her gaze once we were alone. I was afraid that she would grow angry with me at the news if her husband's passing.

I cracked my dry lips apart to begin to speak, but she spoke first.

"Did he hurt you again, Kai? I thought that since he was bedridden he couldn't do anything more to you, but of course he has others to do his bidding for him. I'm so sorry, I should have stepped in, perhaps have protected you more. If you'd like, I will go speak with him now and attempt to convince him to leave you alone." She rambled on and my heart swelled. I never knew she cared for me as much as she did.

"Julie, listen." I spoke gently, stopping her mid sentence. "Nothing else happened. In fact, he just passed on."

Her face contorted into one of shock and terror washed over me.

"I did nothing to him, I swear it. I only wished to tell you myself so I could offer you and my brothers a lifetime stay here in Grohera, if that is something you wish." I rushed to explain myself and hopefully to alleviate her anger, but in my mess of words her face softened and she pulled me into another warm hug.

"Julie?" I asked, confused at her actions.

"I'm sorry." She apologized with a smile. "This is just some of the best news I have heard in a long time, for the both of us."

I stood in awe of her words, my mouth gaping open.

She gently patted my cheek. "We are free, Kai. Bartram has no rule over us."

I was afraid of hearing just what my father had done to her, seeing as what he had done to me in the past. My mind could only run rampant at the thoughts of the terrors Julie could have experienced in her time in Grohera, but I vowed, in that moment, to change that. I swore I would turn the tides in all of our lives, and create one where we could live happy, healthy.

Julie may not have been my mother and I may not have been her son, but in that moment, we were as close to family as one could get.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I, for the first time, hugged my step mother with everything I had.

"And of course we will stay with you."