Last Prince Standing pt.2

Trigger warning: domestic violence

Samuel

After reading mom's will, I couldn't help but feel nervous of what my half-brothers truly thought of me, but I still felt relieved that she still accepted me as her son. Then again, there were the times I was beat for simply saying hello to Luke, or the time when Anthony and Joshua were rough housing and accidentally pushed me down with the king's meal and I ended up getting punished very, very violently, even after Joshua explained the situation.

I never had or kept a grudge against this family, simply because the only person to treat me like crap was the King, however my anger was suppressed by the reoccurring thought of my mother's touch.

The way she snuck around just to bring me food or how she would slip quotes apologizing for the way things were, made me scared for her. It was the way the King would stare at her whenever she greeted me with a smile bright and wide, or how she would offer to let me eat with them and the King would slam the table and scold her.

My anger ran deep, but I only felt it when the King treated my mother poorly. I simply did not care if I was beaten, simply because I wanted to keep my mother smiling, which is why I asked for my beatings to be made privately to save me from embarrassment, but mostly so that my mother wouldn't see or hear my cries.

As I walked down the corridors of the castle and adjusted the many bags I had in my hand, a chill ran over my body as I watched my brothers talking with bags and bags of packed belongings.

"Good morning, how are you to-'' I was cut off by the sound of a door slamming the wall after being opened.

"My sons... and Samuel, I see you got your mother's will. Now, don't disappoint me, make me proud," he paused and walked towards Anthony, "make sure you get back here on time" he whispered loudly. He gave Joshua and Luke the same look, but they turned away at its sight.

He then turned to me and whispered, "if you do anything to sabotage my boys, I will make sure your face is plastered all over the kingdoms with a bounty for your head. Do you understand?".

Looking over at my brothers, I noticed Luke gave me a look of concern but Joshua mouthed the words: "FIGHT BACK!".

And so I did.

"Your Majesty, I do apologize for whatever I have done to make you so angry when you see me but you need to stop," his wrinkles began to shift and his face went from a smug seriousness to surprised.

"What did you just say to me?" He replied.

"You heard what I said. You need to stop treating me like crap, I never did anything to you, and yet you have some type of vendetta against me." I finished and he just sighed.

"Your father was a disgrace to the title Mythical Sorcerer, and you want to know why?" He paused waiting for my eyes to shift in fear but I only clenched my fists. Luke noticed and was about to step forward but Joshua put a hand to his chest and stopped him.

The anger and rage that was suppressed for over twenty-six years, excluding the years I don't remember the harsh treatment, was about to flow out like a river held back by a dam that couldn't take its limits anymore.

"My father was everything you're not, so why would he be a disgrace?" I asked.

"Well it's simple really," he chuckled. "You see, your father and I used to be twin brothers and as children, we had to choose our future through a test given on our first birthdays. In fact, we both passed the test, however we both got the same result, the same future. Being Mythical sorcerers, except there can only be one mythical sorcerer in the family, and since all the competition we were put in were too easy, seeing how we kept getting tied, our family put us to fight to the death on our fifteenth birthdays." He sighed and began walking toward a chair in the corner.

"How-" I tried to add but was cut off by the bellow of his angry voice.

"LET ME FINISH!" He bellowed.

"Father, calm down!" Joshua yelled back, but he didn't calm and continued the story.

"The fight was going well, and I was winning. I wanted to beat your father so badly, I wanted to make him pay for being so arrogant about his powers, but I mistook his perseverance as arrogance and took all my anger out on him," his face shifted into a somber look now. "After I casted a burning spell on his arm, he got angry and casted it back. I don't know if it was accidental or on purpose but he ended up burning my face and leaving me with the scars you see today. He would have continued to cast spells and kill me but after I surrendered, he stopped and won the fight."

"Why would that make him a disgrace?" I crossed my arms.

"You see once a child becomes a mythical sorcerer, they are sworn to protect the family at all costs, no matter if they get married, their main duty is to protect their blood. But your father came into my room after the fight and asked if I was alright. I ignored him but he continued to speak. He told me that on that same night he will run away and never return to the kingdom because of a woman he loved," he chuckled, "A WOMAN! If it was money, if it was a better life, I could understand but a woman!?".

I was shocked, did my father really leave and refuse to protect his family for a woman? No he would never.

"I tried to convince him to stay but he told me that I should protect the family instead and that I will be better for the job. I stood in my window and watched him run into the mountains, and I never saw him again. His disgracefulness was earned when he left his family vulnerable. It's too bad he was the only one that died in the house fire, I was sure it was strong enough to kill three people." And that's when he gave me a sinister look.

"You liar, my father would never do that to his family! YOU KILLED MY FATHER BECAUSE YOU WERE JEALOUS!". I ran up to him and swung my fist quick, and landed a punch on the scarred side of his face. He dropped to the ground in pain, and my brothers dropped their things and held me back, but someone had begun yelling.

"STOP! ALL OF YOU STOP!" Luke yelled. "Is that true father? Did you kill your own brother, Samuel's father?" He looked like he was going to cry but he wiped his eyes before the tears could fall.

"And if I did, what are you going to do about it?" He asked with an evil grin.

"Become king of course and banish you from the kingdom, unless your age already gets the best of you," we all looked at Luke with surprise, he had never talked to his father like that before. The sock in the King's eyes made me smirk.

"Be gone! All of you, you all make me sick!" He yelled and walked off down the hall.

Each of us picked up our bags and watched four carriages pull up to the front of the castle gates. We gave each other a look of reassurance and promised there would be no sabotage among anyone.

"And if all of us were to survive our trials, and only one of us become king, we will live among each other peacefully with no vendetta or guilt. We're doing this for mom and the safety of our kingdom." Joshua exclaimed patting Anthony's back.

Luke and I laughed, and Joshua gave us a smile. Walking out to our carriages, I couldn't help but feel relieved my brothers accepted me. I just hope that we all make it out alive, to see each other again and make mom proud.