Narikas had been dreading this moment ever since Meera saved him from the armor. What would he say when he came face to face with his brother? He didn't fear him, but he knew Rokibor wouldn't hesitate to use the vow Narikas had made to their mother to keep him in line, just to torment him more. However, the armor couldn't hold Narikas back from returning his niceties. Neither was Dagon alive to protect the king, so if he ever decided to slap or belittle Narikas in private, Rokibor would learn what it meant to have an older brother.

No, I'm done. I'm going with Meera and leaving all this behind, even if I must break my vow to mother.

"Meera." He extended a hand and helped her up.

"You should make yourself scarce, Meera," Aunt Hilnoa said. "Given what he's like, he will blame you for Erenyx's unleashing."

"What?" Meera cried. "B-but I saved Narikas by killing—"

"We know." Hilnoa placed a loving hand on her shoulder. "And I will be eternally grateful to you, but the king will not see it like that."

Meera glanced at Narikas, then nodded. "Okay, I'll find you after he's gone."

“No,” Narikas said. “Stay, please.”

He looked her in the eye, hoping to convey his feelings. She must've understood as she nodded. If Rokibor even hinted that Meera was responsible for this mess, Narikas would beat the king into the ground.

Even the presence of their cowardly king did not dampen the soldier's celebration, though he certainly did try to. They stepped aside, and he put on a smile and slapped some on the shoulders, congratulating them.

It was all an act. On the inside, Narikas knew he must've been fuming. His plans to dominate Rhione were thwarted for good, and Azeria had suffered a great loss. The tribute of ten thousand gold coins would especially sting him.

The soldiers at the front finally parted ways, and Rokibor stepped through. His face broke his happy composure and showed the acid underneath for the briefest of moments as his eyes met Narikas. Then he congratulated some more men. There were two Blazers with him. Neither of whom Narikas knew, so he doubted they were that high up in the ranks. And there was someone with him that Narikas hadn't seen since the siege began.

Prince Heibor, Delkoris younger brother and replacement as Crown Prince. However, as far as Narikas knew, Rokibor had yet to make that official.

Rokibor disengaged from the men and came to the little mound of corpses that separated them. His nose was broken and swollen purple. He wondered if that was Delkoris's doing. Aunt Hilnoa had informed him of his nephew's assault on the king. He was one person Narikas hoped would stay hidden for a while.

"Narikas, come here and give your report," Rokibor said, waving for him to come over.

"Sorry, Your Majesty, I've had a terrible injury in the fighting that prevents me from walking too much. I'm barely standing as it is. Do you mind coming over? It's easy to step over all these corpses. Heibor, help your father climb the mound. It's about time the both of you got your hands dirty."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rokibor snapped.

"Exactly that."

The king fumed, and it was enough for him to come over the mound, which was not even that high. If Draros had attacked, it would have stopped his men for half a breath at most.

It gave Narikas great joy to watch his brother slip and fall. It dirtied his robes, which agitated the king quite a bit.

"Here I am, now give your report," Rokibor barked.

Narikas waved the blazers away. They bowed, climbed back over the mound, and out of earshot. Then Narikas told his twin about the deal he had struck with Draros.

"You agreed to pay ten thousand gold coins. Are you out of your mind?" Rokibor shrieked.

"No, Rokibor, for the first time in ten years, I am finally in command of my mind."

The king looked at his bare chest. "Is the armor destroyed?"

Narikas nodded.

"By the gods, we are finished. Don't you remember the deal? As long as one of us wears the armor, our line endures."

"Don't you mean yours?" Aunt Hilnoa interjected. "And if that armor hadn't been dealt with, you wouldn't have a head to rest your crown. Did you forget the two Cosmarians coming for our lives, or did the shattered nose make you forget?"

"You can't talk to him like that," Rokibor's petulant brat said.

"I'm talking to my nephew," Hilnoa said, with the ice in her voice that she kept for everyone she did not care about. "Stay out of this boy."

Heibor looked to his father after that verbal slapping, but Rokibor had more important things to worry about.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Is Nisaya alive, or is she…"

"She was the real hero of this battle," Narikas replied. "It's because of her we are still breathing. She ended the war by getting rid of your malicious border wall and Mistblades."

"What?" Rokibor cried loud enough for some of the soldiers to stare at them. "Is she alive?"

Narikas looked to Meera. She nodded. "Though—"

Rokibor talked over her. "Great. Go get her. Let's wait till they clear out of here, and then she can create an army of Mistblades to finish them off while their armies sleep."

"How?" said a familiar voice. Delkoris carried his withered mother in his arms. "This is what your greed and ambition has wrought. Look at her!" He roared as tears spilled from his eyes.

Aunt Hilnoa rushed to him while writing in her book. She created a shadow barrier to lay her down on. Delkoris set her down gently. Outwardly, Narikas showed no signs of grief, but on the inside, his heart broke for the boy. The loss of your mother was not easy to get over, and Narikas was very well aware of that fact.

Narikas went to Delkoris. His face was a mess of scars and disfigurement. Something told him it was his own father who had done this horrifying act. Only Rokibor was capable of doing this. And Narikas wanted to rend his brother's flesh for doing this to him.

Narikas had been not only the boy's uncle but also his mentor. He had trained him from a young age, and the boy had shown promise enough that Narikas was forced to make him a Shade. It was Narikas who had sent him on the quest to find his mother, but he never thought it would lead to this. He placed a reassuring hand on Delkoris's shoulder.

"You said she isn't dead?" Rokibor barked at Meera.

"She might as well be," Delkoris whispered, yet his whisper might as well be loud as thunder. "She breathes, but only the gods know if she will ever wake."

"Then what use is she?"

Narikas's nostrils flared. He burned with anger at his brother's indifference, but Delkoris burned hotter still.

"What did you say?" Delkoris went for his father, unsheathing his sword. "She damn near drove herself to death securing your kingdom with those monsters. Then you gave her up to that fucking monster who tortured her for days."

Rokibor backed up from his son, who was out for blood. "Now, w-wait, I didn't mean it like that."

Delkoris gripped him by the throat. "Doromar might have done this to her, but you are equally responsible. You are the sole monster that remains, who still haunts this country."

“Narikas, do something. Protect me!" Rokibor ordered.

Narikas opened his mouth, fully intending to tell Delkoris to back down. He had promised his mother that he would always protect his brother, no matter what. Today, he decided to break that vow. It wasn't easy, but Delkoris was right. Rokibor was the monster who had brought all this death and devastation to their country. He turned from the father and son, letting them deal with it themselves.

“N-Narikas...brother…Aunt Hilnoa, please.”

She, too, turned away from the king. The coward Heibor probably had wet his pants. Meera looked at Narikas, but he shook his head, telling her to stay out of this.

Rokibor tried one final plea. "Son, it's not like that. You know I always loved you and your mother. You don't want to kill your father, now do you? What would your mother think? How would she feel when she learns her son killed her husband?"

"My mother can feel nothing anymore. Thanks to you!"

The unmistakable sound of a sword penetrating flesh echoed on the battlefield, followed by a loud gasp from the king of Azeria as he breathed his last.

Narikas thought he would cry, or at least his eyes would be damp at his brother's passing, but they stood as dry as the desert sands. When he heard Rokibor's body fall to the ground, Narikas turned.

Delkoris had driven his blade through his father's heart. Delkoris drew heavy breaths, and if he knew the boy, he would be equally angry at his father and himself for doing this. Killing your father was not easy if the father was as cruel as Rokibor.

Narikas placed a hand on his shoulder. "Close your heart to it. The pain and the suffering this man caused, close your heart to it. He was a plague on this land. Azeria finally has a chance to have a worthy and just king."

"Yes…" Delkoris bent down and picked up the crown which had fallen off Rokibor's head. He turned to the soldiers. "Citizens of the great nation of Azeria, I, Delkoris, of house Manidion, have killed the king because he was cruel, unjust, and unleashed such ancient evils, whose names we had even forgotten. Evil that our brothers and sisters held at bay with their life. I could no longer serve a king who only thought of himself. The malice of King Rokibor has come to an end today."

There wasn't a single soldier who didn't cheer. They pumped their fists in the air and hollered at the top of their lungs. Then, as one, a call was taken up.

"All hail, King Delkoris!"

"All hail, King Delkoris!"

Narikas was about to take up the call with pride when Delkoris raised a hand in the air, and they slowly quieted.

"I will not deny that I have not yearned for this…" He looked at the crown in his hand. "Long would I ponder how I would right the wrongs of my father and my father's father. How I would shape Azeria into a paradise. But to do that, this country cannot be ruled by a man whose heart is divided. It cannot be ruled by a man who began his reign by killing his father."

What? Narikas stepped forward and tried to speak in Delkoris's ear, but he raised a hand to stop him. Aunt Hilnoa had the same thought, but she, too, stopped herself. The soldiers were shocked to silence.

Delkoris continued, "If I begin my reign by committing patricide, then who is to say my son will not do the same to me? What sort of paradise will I create where sons kill their fathers for their property? No, I am no longer fit to guide this nation. I give up my claim to the throne of Azeria. I relinquish my throne to the one man who should have been king a long time ago…"

"No…" Narikas stepped away from him.

"He is the best man I know. Through ten years of adversity and hardship, where most men would have failed and fallen to evil ways. This man never lost his character. He is more of a father to me than my father ever was. I give you the new and rightful king of Azeria, Narikas."

Behind him, the soldiers roared their approval.

Narikas shook his head at his nephew. "Delkoris—"

Aunt Hilnoa placed a loving hand on his cheek. "Son, he's right. Azeria will not get a better king than you. This is the right thing to do. Think of this as your reward for all those years of torture."

"Uncle, I did mean every word I said. You are the best man I have ever known. You are kind, nurturing, and just. Yes, you had to do a lot of evil, but even that, you did for the betterment of our nation."

Heibor coughed as he stepped forward. "I-If Uncle Narikas doesn't want it, I can…"

"Do you want to go father's way?" Delkoris asked.

Heibor blanched. "N-No, he's right. You are the right man for the job. I never wanted the throne anyway."

Narikas was about to object again, but then that man's words came to mind.

…when the time comes—do nothing.

Meera touched his arm. "You should do this." She smiled. "You deserve it. We can go adventuring some other time."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She gave him a slight push towards Delkoris.

Narikas nodded to his nephew and went down on one knee. He placed the crown on Narikas's head. He went on one knee as Narikas and rose as king of Azeria.

"All hail the King!" Delkoris roared.