"Father, I am finished! I want nothing to do with you! You are a monster, and mother seems always to take your side! I am sick of this! I am sick of you! I would sooner banish myself into the Beneath than face you again!" I yelled at him, glaring into his eyes through the only one I could still see through. He told me that strike was a mistake. I hardly believed him.

"Nathaniel, you are hardly a man! Please do not do this to yourself! You still need your family, whether they are monstrous or not! What about your brother? What will he do?" Father demanded.

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"I do not care for any of you! Brother can take care of himself, and you can be sure that only he will be receiving my letters! I banish you! Stay away from me!" I yelled and ran. My bruised face throbbed, and I felt my swollen eye leak. I did not care if it was blood or tears. It would not matter. It would only prove my point further.

I look back on those events with a trace of bitterness in my mouth. My head throbs, and a stabbing pain shoots through my chest whenever I think of it. Now I sit upon the throne as King Nathaniel. Father is turning in his grave at the thought of my success, and Brother is beside me, as he's always been.