Kai

Sometimes, I swore I could see Madeo from the little balcony connected to my room. I would be convinced that if I stood on the railing and held my head just right, I could see Dax waving back at me in the distance, and everything would just wash away from my skin like dirt in the bath.

But this was not one of those times, and the sight of the balcony made my stomach clench in a heart dropping, soul crushing sadness. I woke up that morning with loneliness weighing down on my chest like a sack of stones, and people just kept adding to the weight. But I moved forward, listlessly.

Though Dax inspired much of the courage in me to continue against the cruelty of my father's rule, my brothers helped to bring that same courage out as well. They were all younger than me, and I had a fierce devotion to protecting them from harm at all costs. James, who was 2 years younger than me, shared my pale skin and freckles, but his hair was a darker brown, rather than black. Which I assumed he had inherited from his mother. Peter, who was 7 years younger than me, was a wild boy with tufts of blond hair sticking up all over his head and tanned skin stretched across his small body. He refused almost all discipline unless it came from my father or myself. Oliver, who was 13 years younger than me, was quiet and peaceful, much unlike Peter, his full blood brother. He had the same unruly blond hair, but he did his best to comb through it each morning and lay it against his forehead.

James and I had different mothers, while Peter and Oliver shared a mother, the current love of my father, but she refused the position of queen. I found that James and myself grew closer as we both matured into manhood. We used to envy one another growing up, for different reasons of course, and bred a hatred in our souls. But once we overcame those difficulties, we grew extremely close.

And that morning in the dinning room, James sat next to me just as always, but he was bleary eyed and disoriented.

"James, were you out at the tavern again last night?" I whispered, careful not to let our shared father hear the conversation.

"Possibly." He answered simply, looking down to his plate of food in disgust.

After a night of drinking, James would sneak back into the castle and do his best to sleep off the drunkenness, but every morning he would look as if death itself had come to claim him.

"I'm surprised Father hasn't noticed your sneaking out and vomiting fits the next morning, yet." I said smiling. "You don't hide it well."

James tried to contain the small grin, but it eventually broke out across his dried lips. "If you'll eat this when no one is looking, I'll be forever in debt to you."

"You're already forever in debt to me, but I'm feeling merciful this morning."

We laughed quietly at the secluded end of the table, enjoying one another's company when my father spoke.

"Kai, you are being a nuisance. If you are going to whisper at the end of the table all morning, why not share with the rest of us?" He looked around to Peter, Oliver, and their mother, Julianna, who we called Julie for short.

I gritted my teeth and held back my smart remarks.

"I apologize, father. James and I will stop."

But that did not satisfy my father.

"That's not good enough, Kai. Please, share with us what was so private that your own mother and father weren't welcome to participate in."

My blood boiled, but I refused to throw James under the bus.

James held his hand against my arm, knowing that what my father said had gotten under my skin. His mother had also passed away while living in Grohera, so he shared the same grief that I had.

"She is not my mother." I spoke, venom dripping from the words.

Julie wasn't a bad woman, but she would never be my mother.

"Do not be rude to my wife, Kai!" My father bellowed, slamming his fist against the great wooden table.

I looked to Oliver and Peter who cowered behind Julie and trembled at their father's rage.

I forced myself to breathe, to calm in spite of the insults my father continued to deliver. He seemed to notice me forcing my anger to the back of my mind, and decided to deliver the final blow.

"With the scum that your mother was, you should be honored that Julianna even bothers to call you her stepson!"

Julie opened her mouth to speak, possibly to defend me, but I held my hand up and stopped her. She did not need to anger my father on my behalf.

I said nothing and stood.

"May I be excused?" I asked, putting on the most polite voice I could manage but anger still seeped at the cracks in my voice.

Silence spread across the table and tension settled around the family.

"No, you may not. Now sit back down."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I closed it quickly for fear of what I could say to my father in a fit of rage. A look of satisfaction crossed his face as I rolled my shoulders back and sat in my chair silently.

The conversation between the other family members slowly overcame the tension filled air, but my brothers and Julie continued to glance back at me, trying to decipher what had happened.

No one really knew why my father and I hated one another. James knew some of my association with Dax and the people of Madeo, but he knew close to nothing else. So the mystery remained intact to the other family members, them only getting glimpses into the conflict whenever Father and I got into an argument.

We finished our morning meal in a tense atmosphere of forced conversation, and each time I looked up to the family, my father's eyes bore into my own.

I quickly rose as everyone else began to leave the room, but my father's voice held me back.

"Kai, I did not excuse you."

I turned to him with a look of hatred in my eyes and returned to my seat at the opposite end of the table. James returned as well and tried to take his seat beside me. He gave a look of compassion. He didn't want me to be alone with our father.

"James. Leave." My father said with no emotion.

James started to argue with the order, but I touched his arm and stopped him.

"Go, trust me, I'll be fine."

He didn't believe me, but he backed down from our father.

"I love you." He whispered to where only the two of us could hear. Once he learned how our father treated me when we were alone, James began telling me that he loved me each and every time we parted. He had the same fear that I did, that there would be a time when I wouldn't come back.

"I love you." I whispered in return, and he scurried out of the room.

Silence draped itself across us like a tavern whore, encompassing the entirety of our attention.

"You are a disappointment to the lineage of Grohera." My father said simply.

I stayed silent in my seat with my shoulders back. I may not have fought back, but I looked at him with every ounce of hatred I could muster.

"You would be more helpful to the family if you were dead." He continued, leaning forwards. "I wish I would have killed you and your little Magi whore back in Madeo."

I bit my lip, hard. My whole body shook with rage, but I continued my vow of silence.

"I always knew Auden and Moira were weak, but I never expected their child to be even weaker than they were."

Were? Had Auden died?

"Is that shocking to you, Kai? That Auden unexpectedly died almost at the same instant we declared war on them?" My father asked with a smile on his face.

"You killed him..." I said quietly. "You killed Auden."

"I tried to kill Dax as well, but the little snake was nowhere to be found that night." He watched as my jaw dropped. "There will always be more chances, won't there, Kai?"

My body shook and I fought to keep my cool.

"What do you mean?" I asked, fighting with myself.

My father stayed frustratingly silent, before turning to the door.

"Unwin, you may enter." My father called.

I looked to the door helplessly as a large man entered and stood by my father's side.

"Would you like to tell my son what your assignments are?" My father asked with a sinister grin.

He looked into my eyes as he walked to my chair. He had long brown hair that was braided down his back and a thin face. He seemed to have a resting expression that told people exactly what they needed to know about him. He was very dangerous.

Unwin stopped behind me, and I felt a shiver run up my spine. I knew better than to get out my chair and run, but every bone in my body was yelling at me to do exactly that.

"My orders come from the king of Grohera himself. They read as follows," his voice was low and menacing. "To take Prince Kai to the dungeons and secure him by any means necessary. And to make the journey to Madeo to kill the current ruler, King Dax."

My body froze, and every muscle tensed at once. Father looked at me with no apology, with no sympathy as he spoke his next words.

"Proceed, Unwin."

Unwin grabbed the back of my neck and slammed my upper body into the dinning table. My eyes began to water as pain radiated from my nose. I thrashed under his grip, but his body weight kept me against the cool wood and he took my hands and bound them behind my back.

"You're a monster!" I screamed. I wasn't quite sure as to who I was directing my anger towards, but I continued nonetheless. "You're a monster, do you hear me?!" I spit blood with every syllable I spoke and my nose dripped with the stuff. I looked down and my shirt was starting to stain with the crimson liquid.

"Please take care of that mouth of his. I am not in the mood to hear it."

I kept screaming in hopes that someone would hear, that someone would burst in and stop my father. That was, until Unwin stuffed a grubby cloth into my mouth and tied another piece around my head, preventing me from screaming any longer.

"Thank you, Unwin. You will be paid handsomely when you return with the proof I asked you for."

Tears ran down my cheeks as I was jerked to my feet.

"Don't fight, and I won't cause any more damage." Unwin told me, pushing my body forwards.

"Oh, and Kai," my father called. I turned to look at him with hatred behind my tears. "You are excused."

I thrashed in Unwin's hands, desperate to swing at my father,  desperate to stop the plan he had set in motion. But Unwin held tight.

My father called out again and another man, this time in Groheran armor, came in. He held me down and Unwin tied my ankles together, restricting my movements even further.

The two men exchanged words that I never heard and I was slung over Unwin's shoulder like a doll.

I didn't fight, I couldn't muster the energy to thrash against the hold, and accepted my fate. I just hoped that soon my father would manage to kill me as well.

Right as I was carried out of the dinning room, I lifted my head, and was greeted by James' horrified face.

He reached out, palm open like a child reaching for a toy, but I shook my head gently.

In that exact moment, he and I both learned how to say 'I love you' with just our eyes. With the state I was in, blood streaming down my face from my nose, forehead, and mouth, I was sure it looked as if I wouldn't return. And, in some ways, I hoped that I didn't.

Unwin carried me away from my brother and down to the dungeons below the castle, where he sat me on the floor of one of the many empty cells. He untied my hands, but promptly clasped the metal shackles around my wrists so I was then connected to the wall.

I suspected that Unwin was not a merciful person, but that opnion changed by the smallest degree as he took the gag from my mouth and allowed for my jaw to move freely.

He stood above me, looking at my bloodied face with pity.

"You are going to kill the most gentle hearted person this world will ever know." I told him, my voice getting weaker.

Unwin gave me a confused look, the light from the tiny barred window slanted across his sharp facial features.

"My father made him out to be a monster, afterall, telling yourself that you are ridding the world of evil makes killing justified in some sick way. But Dax is not a monster." I prayed that he would listen and possibly have mercy on the boy I loved.

"He is a Magi." Unwin said defiantly.

"And you blindly believing that an entire group of people are evil due to the actions of a select few of them will forever be worse in my eyes." I spat blood to the side, hoping my words would help to convince him in some way.

"Those opposing beliefs are what led you to this moment, your highness. You're the one shackled to the wall, I'm the one that gets to walk free."

"If doing what is right is what led me here, I believe you need to reevaulate what side you are on, Unwin." I took a shaky breath. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some spitting up blood to get to, and I don't think you want to see that."

His eyes widened and he turned on his heels, leaving me completley and utterly alone.