"So, you're telling me...my whole family died when the rebels carpet-bombed the capital?" I tried to stand but stumbled a bit before fully coming to my shaking feet. The farmer's filthy little hovel was at least blocking the sun from my half-drunken vision...I felt Dennis tense as I creased a damp spot in my grey shirt that came off a rusty crimson color from my short nap among the Buritian dust.

I frowned quietly to myself as I stared off at one of the large rustic sandstone bluffs that pimpled the rolling dunes of my fatherland. How the fuck did Dennis find me all the way out here? I had spent four days hitchhiking on a long-needed bender just to escape even hearing about his stupid coronation...I have hated all manner of Vascan court bullshit my entire life but actually having my successor stare me in my eyes while my father crowns him instead of me...In front of the whole capital! I'd rather stay in exile!

I'd rather they just fein my lunacy and behead me already in truth. "Huck!" I discerned the cold slap before the sound waves pierced my hung-over ears. " You--okay listen I am not in the right mindset to explain why your nonplussed attitude is wildly concerning..." His cadence was off, Dennis was a strange guy--Tall but portly, yet you could tell he was frail from how upturned his stubby pig nose always was. "Do you even hear yourself?!"

I could barely hear anything but the ringing of his screeching voice...That and the photons psychosomatically deafening everything around me. "You act like I'M the one who ordered the strike."

I began dusting off my dark-colored pants. Dennis' bleached golden dreadlocks were dripping with sweat, His eyes kept looking back to the car and back down at me as I rubbed the top of my head.

My eyes followed his as he tried to stare me down, the jiggle of his jowls almost made me let loose a small chuckle. His large mouth opened for a moment wordless before speaking. "...YOU act as if you are not the acting leader of Buriti Vasca ITSELF!"

The entire mask of my father's 'reign' was marred with the chips of civil war...There's no fucking way my WHOLE family was dead after one incident, the rebels had been running frequent attacks since they took over the airport last month.

"My father?" I bet that mean one-eyed bastard was still kicking one of the only Vascans left with a true throne and not just some courtier or powerless duke. The mere mention of him made Dennis shift slightly as he adjusted his many golden necklaces.

"Burnt to a crisp saving your mother." He looked down for a moment as he broke eye contact...I still felt as if he was gauging my response in some way. Each time he spoke it was merely just an excuse or another finely tied loose end that aligned ultimately with his Regency. Greedy, and unwise to involve me in his scheme...

I cupped some white sand into my hand--The world was not so black and white, like these small chunks of earth, there was no way no one had lived but Dennis and I...If left to luck. I no longer trusted my older cousin, I no longer could pretend to tolerate his presence.

"My mother and Kasiha then?" My tone faltered either from the alcohol-fueled migraine or maybe from the thought of my intelligent sister being exterminated in the insurgent's rage. They had gone too far this time...It was customary for a king or prince to be abducted but this was a clan-clearing coop that seemed to have no regard for Buriti or Vascan war customs.

Dennis took a few steps before clearing his throat, his response was much too plastic as if he was reciting one of the stupid fucking multicultural plays he always is writing. "The rebels had fake ambulances stationed for the survivors...." His fat fucking lips smacked together at the end as if I was meant to infer the horrid ending of my sweet sister.

"Just stop giving me some goddamn call and response and tell me how the fuck im the only surviving royal in this whole shitty state?" I normally tried to have some sort of heir of authority over Dennis but now actually having it didn't seem to matter. He flexed his eyebrow without breaking eye contact, impatient rage now displayed on his bearded face. Repulsive.

"I am the only one who could find you...Not because I take solace in knowing your infamous depraved lifestyle among the dregs of Buriti," He motioned at the blue sky, My eyes felt like they shriveled into tiny nuggets of sin before the light of Dhira. "See! You can't even face the people in this state as 4th in line--Let alone the new head of state, you are just as worthless as when Uncle cast you from his court!" He attempted to slap me again but I ducked and threw up on his crocodile skin boots my father had gifted him. "You sorry little excuse of a--"

He finally must have realized the gravity of everything he said to me as I fell back on my ass in the dirt looking up at my stupid cousin...Possibly realizing he was attempting to assault the new Crimson Monarch of Buriti Vasca and finding it better to hold his tongue as my lesser.

"Dennis shut the fuck up okay? Can you relax for one second--Your family decided to back mine when we overthrew the colonizers. YOU are next in line right?" My swollen head pounded nearly as loud as my voice against the abandoned desert field we were arguing in. The native farmer must have rushed off the second he saw Vascans heading toward his way. A smart choice with the laws of the Infernus forcing them into cruel indentured 'service' if even asked of...

He surprisingly stuck his chubby gloved hand out to help me up from the ground with an annoyed huff. " Your father was meant to coordinate with the Old Gaurd to subvert your direct line to the throne after your sister..." His face twisted into a small smile that disappeared as he saw me scrunch my face--But I saw it nonetheless.

"Okay so if im correct it is ratified or whatever then-isn't that what the stupid gala was for that no one invited me to?"I felt his pudgy grip release me spitefully as I stood face-to-face with Dennis, his teeth now bared.

"You ignorant little pustule! That's why they bombed the capital all of the Vascarian council is dead!" His words had such certainty to them...I had never seen Dennis so worked up...At least when it wasn't some random courtier who insulted his artistic value, why was it so important for him to ascend amid such a time of distress for our entire clan?

"Oh...Well, whose dumbass idea was it to have a coronation during a rebel uprising?!" I nearly spat at him as the winds picked up their sweltering mid-day breeze. My head spun but no emotion truly came for my family's instant demise. Though, a gazelle caught my eye as it bounded its way across the cracked earth between a large dune and cliffside, Its small body was moving so fast it was almost hovering across the sizzling white sand Buriti foundation. Such grace, such rugged survivability...

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He began to make his way to an armored vehicle surrounded by a small troop of Vascan royal guards, dressed head to toe in the crimson attire of their station. "It was your mother's idea since the rebels began their assaults when it was announced you'd be next in line..." That wretched woman...If she had not raised my sister and me after my real mother's murder I would have sworn she was an active enemy agent.

As he attempted to annoy me by blaming my own family for his fortune, I noticed Aiko. She was a childhood friend and devoted royal guardsman of my sister and mother to others--To me, she was a convoluted ball of yarn I did not wish to unball. Her normally radiant face was sullen yet she seemed to be too engrossed with her toy soldier routine to acknowledge me.

Aiko stood eye to eye with me, nearly a head taller than the average Buritian. Her large dark brown eyes were always piercing yet reflective windows into her battle-hardened mind, my heart filled with emotions that I quickly put away. I hadn't even asked if she was okay after the bombardment. There was far too much going on--Yet small notes of her fig-scented fragrance sent a reminiscent shiver down my spine.

I quickly changed my gaze as another thought pushed to my lips. "Wait... doesn't that mean there's no more checks and balances until new seats are elected?" I began rushing to the car as a bodyguard opened it almost like it was second nature to his own breath. "I don't see any reason that we can't meet with the rebels. Give them seats and a voice on the council while we get the old senate power in the lower court systems."

I noticed as the last gravelly words left my throat that Aiko seemed to be giving Dennis a secret scowl--She gripped her rifle as she followed her fiance quietly marking each step in her mind. Denis sat quickly into the car as the guards began to pile into the armored creaking vehicle. "ARE YOU CRAZY?! Not only is that wildly dangerous how will the people know who to vote for?!"

He was nearly shaking as if the idea wasn't a quick road to peace, every seat buckle made him flinch as he kept looking out the back window toward the farmer's most likely now abandoned homestead. "The people don't get a say Dennis...they turned their back on us when they let enemy agents take over our lands...our families, the Soldiers, and even these fucking rebels at least fought for what we thought was right...They will know who to vote for." I felt the mood of the car shifting as the soldier's eyes lit up.

"My plan puts an end to the violence and gives us military strength again. We have been fighting this latest civil war for 14 years--I was 9 years old when they began Dennis. Do you even think about why?" Dennis swallowed a lump in his throat loudly without a word.

"I do--It keeps me up at night. This isn't a war for our home against invaders...they are our native brothers and sisters killing each other over our foreign family's stranglehold over power or lack thereof!" My forehead became hot, wrath was a common sin of the Vascan royalty. Only further fueled by the myriad of religious texts outlining the allowed brutality of any Vascan or Old World monarch amid territorial conquest.

"What you're proposing would reconfigure the way the nation itself functions and create a massive power imbalance for anyone unwilling to pick up a fight or work for your 'Cause of Peace'." His fingers came up to air quote but I swiftly slapped his hands away, giving him a taste of what he did to me earlier.

The driver swerved by an inch but enough to let me know that he was affected by my discipline of my stupid cousin. "I'm not proposing! I'm telling you what's going to happen...YOU WILL set up a meeting with the rebel leader in the burning rubble of the Mauve Palace's metropolitan fief." I cast my gaze to the window, rolling dunes made their slow journey across the Buriti dried oasis basin.

The lone freeway was nothing new, Vascan royals and foreign delegates were the only ones with vehicles besides our massive reserve of military transports and heavy tanks. "Cousin! You are a mad fucking dog if you think this is a good idea!" He began to sweat more profusely as his brown eyes darted around the car.

The soldiers seemed to echo my stoicism as they looked on, not even reacting to any of the conversations taking place between them. Aiko's tight grip on her seat gave no illusion of her feelings as we bustled along the dusty highway. "Like I said Dennis I do not care for those who are terrified of getting harmed, I've bided my time drinking and playing mad fool while you and my father galavanted your riches...Asked for handouts from the northern pigs of Svetlan! You've even let those mad slavemongers take religious hold in the hearts of our temples!"

My voice began to vibrate my own throat with each word--I've argued with Dennis many times over a plethora of topics before being exiled...This was different. "Huck...You never said anything." It must have been a terrible feeling that washed over him as his brown skin turned pale, adjusting his purple robes with shaken hands.

I turned to the driver of the vehicle slowly while I sat in the backseat, arms folded. "Pull over in this embankment now."

"Sir this is rebel-controlled territory-we are lucky we found you." I did not enjoy the hesitation in the man's voice as he looked at my cousin instead of me for confirmation. If I was now king I refused to ever be told why something can't be done. Unchecked power was a must for my new station or else the native Buritians would think I'm just as soft as Dennis.

"I do not think you want to make a habit of telling me no." The car slowed as we pulled into a small side road leading to a tiny impoverished village of Tahul tribe farmers. The huts along the river were littered with sickly people scraping at anything for food. I stepped out of the car silently as Aiko walked behind, my shadow, her rifle at the ready. She spoke in a low tone, only two words, as we stepped into the clearing.

"Say When." A small boy with an obvious head injury scurried away from me as we made our approach. "Don't run! I'm here to make an announcement I want you to pass on the leader of Cartel Aygu." I bent down slowly as the name Aygu immediately caught the attention of the small group of villagers. Though they were not in line with the insurgents that we warred with, many of them had ties to the leader through sons still actively fighting under his banner. My cousin and the driver stepped out attempting to quietly talk amongst themselves.

"You all must know my cousin Dennis, Regent of Buriti Vasca...He is the man who wanted the money reprinted so my father and he can be like the silly men in the east who do not know the price of gold!" The dirty villagers began the gather angrily at my presence. The small huts were nearly falling apart as miniature red banknotes were strewn near pots boiling animal bones for the little bit of gristle soup they could scrounge. "I want to present them...As my peace offering!"

My cousin Dennis began to laugh as he put his hand on my shoulder with an unwelcome air of confidence. "Your new King is simply tired from walking the motherlands do not-" He put his hands up as the driver began holding his hat to his chest.

"When." Aiko turned and fired into the driver's chest, sending his blood spraying across the red cracked dirt mixing pleasingly as I stood there watching my cousin squirm in reaction. She held her firearm unflinching as the only other guard drew his weapon on me in turn. "Oh, you think because this man lines your pockets that I am the one who you should be afraid of?"

Aiko's brown finger pulled the trigger once more sending Dennis sprawling out on the floor. Half his frontal lobe is now bathed in clay and sunlight in front of me. Even as the last words left my lips the villagers began using farm tools to cave in the skull of the ill-prepared guard and my regent relative as their screams were hushed by the babbling of the river.

I watched as the people used scythes to pluck the men's eyes out, shovels to dig into their abdomen, and small hammers to smash his arms and legs until they were nothing but a motionless pile of blubber and viscera. Fodder for the beasts of Buriti--A sigil to Aygu and his rebels...

"Now tell your Leader I'll be waiting at the capital and if you attempt to attack me...I pray for the next person who stands between me and my country's wellbeing." I walked back to the car as Aiko began to drive away from the scene. The sounds of their murmurs were hushed by the race of my own heart...I will trust no one but her.

As we departed, leaving the village behind, I stared out over the rolling dunes stretching to the horizon. The harsh, arid expanse of Buriti Vasca filled my view, the searing sun beating down upon the cracked earth.

In that moment, the people's response held no surprise - Dennis' obliteration was merely another brutal articulation of the primal chorus of violence my people shared with the native Buritians. A shared binding of will and might that forced any too weak to fight to scatter away from the merciless life of the dunes.

I did not create the Vascan blood rituals that robbed our lands of innocent life, nor create the customs the Buritian tribes resort to cannibalism in the winter months--But that combined rugged survival instinct of Buriti-Vasca would become the unyielding backbone to the future I envisioned.

My own past seemed a bittersweet nothing compared to the pangs of civil war, Vasco religious subjugation, and the unconnected warring borderlands that surrounded the Mauve Palace...Years they kept me exiled on the fringes of the wastes. No more! I would return with a blazing crush, eclipsing my father's reign. Much like the rebels, I too had prayed for the sour old fool's destruction, settling to simply wait out his wretched life among the common folk.

In truth, it was not my choice to be banished...But I had no time to ponder the inner workings of my expulsion amid the burning desire to reforge Buriti Vasca back into a formidable strength among the other fatherlands of Izmar