Chapter Six:
Your Insecurities are Concealed by Your Pride
Dmitri
Finally, I made the decision to go to the meeting. I of course consulted with the royal family, Zachary, the Slane’s… Anyone I could turn to for a levelheaded opinion. They all agreed that it could be beneficial for the cause to see what the fool wanted, and that they trusted me enough to attend. Andrew would be the only one to accompany us to The Peace Zone, as I requested. I didn’t want anyone to share the same breathing air as Alexei, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my cool without Andrew’s support, either. That morning the four of us rode to The Peace Zone, where The Committee welcomed us coldly and offered a spare room to prepare ourselves in. Andrew scolded his uncles for not telling him sooner, but they assured him they had only found out a few days ago themselves. Jeremiah was behind the secrecy, but after their latest argument, I doubted Andrew was in the mood to confront him about it.
The meeting was scheduled for eleven, so we had half an hour to prepare. Riley and Mom went to speak with Alden, who was going to give them the run down, as well as give Andrew and I some much needed space. As soon as the door shut, Andrew, who was positioned against the window with his arms crossed, sighed deeply and turned to me. I was sitting before the grand mirror staring emptily at myself. I wore the prince suit he had gotten for me for the previous meeting, with my hair combed back formally. Gerard’s sword was in my belt, but my usually sparkling turquoise eyes were almost grey in contrast to the rich colors of the outfit.
“I have something for you, if you’ll take it?” Andrew finally said, moving to procure a small box from his bag. He rounded the bench and knelt before me, then popped the latch and pulled out a beautiful gold crown. It had The North Kingdom’s crisp emerald stones pressed into various spots, and glistened gorgeously in the morning sun. My eyes widened at the sight of it as he pulled it from the silk and delicately set it over my hair. “It was my crown, when I was prince. It signified that one day I would rule The North Kingdom and is one of my most prized possessions. I felt you should also have the honor of wearing a crown today.”
“Thank you…” I breathed in awe. He smirked sadly, his eyes falling behind the mask of reassurance he was fronting. As he went to stand I reached for his arm, which made him pause slightly. “Andrew… I need you to trust me, now more than ever.” I began.
“I do?” He automatically replied.
“No, you don’t.” His eyes widened at how serious I was, and he knew he was caught. “I promise with my heart and soul that I will not cave to his insanity. I will come home with you as soon as this is over, and we will forget it ever happened. Alexei is not going to come between myself and my love for your kingdom.”
He scoffed a soft chuckle and pinched my cheek lovingly, “I hope so, because I’ve invested a lot of time into you,” he teased.
I stood and pulled him into a warm hug, which startled him slightly, but he reciprocated the action soon after. “You have been more of a father to me than the man I am about to face has been my whole life; I refuse to ever leave your side.” I sincerely breathed in his ear.
His hug turned much more serious, and he tucked his face into my shoulder with a hollow snivel, “Please don’t… I fought so hard to have you in my life, and it will crush me if I lose you now…” he managed to whisper before he lost his ability to speak.
Mom and Riley peeked into the room as Andrew and I slowly broke apart, both of us wiping our eyes. Mom sighed softly for us, then came over to pat my shoulder. “I'm sorry to interrupt, but it’s time to head down?”
I took a deep breath, steadied myself, then nodded, “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”
There was a conference room on the third floor that was surrounded almost completely by windows, except for the wall with the door. We walked the long hallway leading to it, and when we entered, were greeted by two painfully familiar faces. Alexei, of course, was seated at the table. He was dressed casually for a king in an outfit similar to mine and Riley’s, and spun his crown on the tabletop while smoking a thick cigar. He didn’t feel that comfortable wearing Levi’s crown while in the same room as him, which was surprising.
Beside him was Levi, who I truly couldn’t believe was here. He looked as if he barely aged, which meant either he was blessed with good genes, or he was just that stressed my entire childhood. I was leaning towards the latter. He and Alexei looked like twins sitting side by side, both sharing the same mint eyes and champagne hair that made my skin crawl whenever I saw it. The three of us sat down, and when Levi’s eyes fell on Riley and I, they filled with astonishment and regret simultaneously. We didn’t bother acknowledging him as Jeremiah shut the door, signaling our time together had begun. Alexei looked to the clock, waited until exactly eleven, then slid his crown back on and sat up straighter. “I see everyone decided to come?”
“Get on with whatever it is you intend to say.” Riley snapped.
“Your excitement is palpable,” he snorted back, turning to raise an eyebrow to me, “You’ve healed up quite nicely.”
“Do yourself a favor and don’t push my patience, because it will not end well for you.” I snarled, which made him tense up slightly.
“Noted; well, in all honesty, I suppose I just wanted to see everyone in one room again before we went to work trying to kill each other.”
“What kind of sick pleasure do you get in making us all so uncomfortable?” Riley asked.
“I was hoping maybe we could knock some sense into one another…?”
“One another!?” Levi scoffed, “The only one who needs his sense knocked in is you!” Hearing his voice in person was otherworldly. His strong French accent was still intact, but he had gotten much better at mastering English, so I could understand him easier than when we were kids. I remembered how French had been as normal to me as English, how he sang lullabies to us in that same tongue. I thought I remembered his voice, but hearing it now, in person, proved I had no clue who this man was after all.
“First thing we’ve agreed on in years,” Mom added, which made Levi flush a slight pink.
“I think we should just end this foolish bullshit here and now. You’re prolonging the inevitable because your scared of dying, and it’s pathetic.” I despondently said.
Alexei was tapping his fingers on the underside of the table as he tried to think of a response, “I have no fear of death; what I do fear, is leaving my family behind. You of all people should know what that feels like. You’ve been living the high life up in The North, blowing Andrew every chance you get and being buddy-buddy with complete strangers over your own family…” he snarled back.
“What makes you think I would ever choose you over The North?” I demonically growled, adrenaline rushing through my veins the angrier I became.
“Yes, I forgot; you, Riley, and mommy dearest have formed quite the pack. It’s amazing how well you’ve conned Andrew into thinking your trustworthy.”
“There is no conning; I have been on the front line since the day I became a Calvary.”
“If you think killing the people you grew up with makes you some kind of hero…?”
“The people I grew up with watched and helped you torture me to the point of utter insanity. No one in that castle means a God damn thing to me. The only people from The West castle I consider to be allies are Morgan and Riley. The rest of you can fuck off and die for all I care.” I snapped, which made Levi cringe the slightest bit. “What is this all about, Alexei? I am losing my patience with you by the second, so get on with it.”
He leaned forward, his eyes darkening, “I am not here to justify my actions, by any means whatsoever. That is, regarding the war...” he slid back into his seat and averted his eyes from mine, literally staring at the ceiling and grinding his teeth as he couldn’t force himself to hold eye contact as he spoke, “There is something I would like to say, and I admit I never thought I would be able to; I was wrong for what I’ve done to you, Dmitri.”
Riley gasped, but Alexei just turned to stare at me, emotionless. My heart felt like it was about to burst into flames, but I returned his empty stare. “Is that all?” I sniffed falsely.
His smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth, “You’re trying to act strong, but I can see right through you,” he leaned back cockily, crossing his arms, “Like it or not I am your brother, and I did raise you.”
“Don’t remind me of my misfortunes.” I scoffed with an eyeroll.
“Yes, and misfortunate they were. I’d appreciate, for five minutes, if you would let me say what I need to say without any snappy comments?” He spat with a scowl.
“Oh, I’m so sorry I angered you. You wanna know something?” I sat forward, pure anger in my veins, “What makes you think you have the right to make me sit here and listen to you make yourself feel better? What have you ever done for me that gives you that privilege? How high of a horse are you on that you think you have any right to make me listen to your shit!”
“Because I have a feeling it will make you feel better as well.” He attempted.
“Don’t fill me with false hope, Alexei, because it didn’t work then and it won’t now.”
“I have been blunt with you my entire life, and that isn’t going to change now. As horrible as I’ve been I have never lied to you, no matter how good or bad the situation was. So please, just, for once in your life, shut up and listen to me!”
I slowly sat back, waving him on. “Let’s get this over with, then.”
He sighed, obviously agitated beyond belief, before folding his hands. I realized that I probably wasn’t helping by instigating him, so I did finally fall silent. “After a long time of contemplation, I’ve realized something I should have many years ago; you are NEVER allowed to end up like me, Dmitri,” he hollowly said. “Don’t you ever feed that monster that I tried creating inside of you. I know the damage is done, but I also know that you are far from the evil that brews within me. Both you and Riley are normal people, and that’s how it stays. Just because you kill people on the field does not mean you are what Joshua and I have long since become. I don’t care how you swallow it, just swallow it, and do not ever let it claw its way back to the surface.”
“Why?” I whispered seriously, which made him blink in shock.
His expression contorted in disbelief, and he scoffed like I had smacked him in the face, “Do I really need to tell you why, moron?”
“Yes, you do, for my self-pleasure and all that.”
He shook his head wildly. “Because you will rot in the deepest pits of hell right beside me, that’s why. You will destroy everything you love, and ruin people in your wake… You get the gist,” he sighed, sitting back again, “You know, I don’t think I hate you. I think I envy that you are impossible to break. I never could accept you because of that reason. It was abnormal how strong willed you are. Riley didn’t need breaking, since he listened well. But you, you never broke. And God, we put you through a lot. Its admirable, really.”
I ground my teeth, “Gee, thanks for the fucking compliment.”
“You’re angry, so you’re not seeing things from the perspective I am.”
“Angry…?” I scoffed hard, “Angry doesn’t begin to describe how I feel!”
“Well, I'm no therapist, and if therapy worked, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
I ran my hand down my face, my heart beat quickening as my anger boiled. “Ok, so let me get this straight. From the age of thirteen and back, I was supposed to hate the world. But eighteen and on, I'm supposed to be a saint? What the fuck do you want from me!?”
He leaned forward, his face full of his own anger, “I want you to be a man!” He bellowed.
I slammed my fist into his face, which made everyone gasp as he smashed into the chair back hard. “If you ever…” I hissed as he held his jaw, his eyes full of horror, “Say that to me again, I will snap your fucking neck on the spot regardless of the consequences. I am a man, more then you will ever be… I'm just not the type of man you want me to be. I went through hell with you, Alexei, and I will not tolerate someone as spineless as you disgracing my image.”
“I was hoping you’d do that,” he chuckled, sitting up and cracking his jaw once.
“You, are the reason I still fight….” I began as he flashed me shocked eyes, “You are the reason I put myself through this every day, because I have one purpose in life, and it’s to prove you wrong. I don’t need to touch you to make you suffer, because the emotional scars are the worst. I want you to watch Riley and I prosper; I want you to see that what you’ve done has no effect on the kind of people we’ve chosen to be. My main wish is to bury you beneath the ground with your backstabbing, spineless men, so your bodies can rot together for eternity.”
“Dmitri…?” He tried to cut me off, but I talked right over him.
“You have certainly created the monster you desired, Alexei, but I’ll be damned if my family sees it. The only person who will ever see just how scary I can be, will be you, and anyone who gets in my way to victory. Your life mission was to strip me of everything I loved? Well guess what, mine is the same...” absolute disbelief filled his expression as I spoke, “Your apology is worthless to me now; you let eighteen years of anger brew, and you cannot shut the lid anymore. You can beg me for mercy, and you know what I would say to you…?” I grabbed his shirt, our faces inches apart. His eyes bore into mine, lifeless, as I whispered, “How does it feel to be on the other side of the stick?”
“You don’t mean that… deep down, you care about me as much as I care about you, and I refuse to believe otherwise…” he breathed back.
“Oh, do I? Let me make this very clear to you, Alexei Mortimer; you will die by the end of this war, and I personally will ensure you do. You will be a forgotten memory in the amount of time it takes for me to walk from your body to the door, and man do I have ants in my pants for that day.” I confidently growled.
“I'm a human too, you bastard, and I have the right to feel guilt!” He abruptly roared, attempting to grab my shirt so he could shake some sense into me, but I shoved his hand off.
“You, are far from a human... A human doesn’t make his brother train for fifteen hours a day, only to shove him in a pitch-black room for the remaining nine. A human doesn’t let his commander tie a belt around his brother’s neck and hang him until he stops breathing!” I screamed, which made my parents shudder in horror, “My middle name was The Mistake, because it’s my fault you’re a sick bastard, right? Because I’m the cause of all your suffering? Because I ruined your image all on my own? The only way I ruined your image, was by exposing you for the murderer you are!” He fell slack into the chair, completely devastated, as I slowly took a breath.
“Enough, you two. Alexei, this game your playing is growing old. If you have something to say, then say it. If not, we have lives to live and a war to finish.” Mom said seriously.
Alexei dropped his head momentarily, then breathed a heavy sigh and folded his hands, “I want you all to come home.” He finally blurted.
Riley snorted a huge laugh, which made Alexei cringe into himself shamefully, “Fat chance of that happening, mate.”
“I'm being serious!” He yelled, slamming his fist on the table, “I know I’ve been cruel to you all, but I finally have control of myself…!”
“Bullshit,” Riley scoffed, “You have as much control as I have rainbow zebras.”
“I'm fully medicated, and have been told by multiple doctors that I am stable. I did not risk everything and invite you all here just to lie. Even Joshua does not know I’m here, and if he finds out, he’ll put a knife in my back himself. I am doing this all for you. I am not sick, and I want you to come home so I can prove it to you…!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“You do realize what damage you have done to this family, right?” Mom began in an eerie and hollow tone, which made Alexei shiver, “The list is becoming endless at this point. You ruined the relationship I had with my siblings, you stole my country, you murdered hundreds of our citizens…” her voice raised to pure murderous rage, “You RUINED my marriage, you threw me in a cell for SIX YEARS, and you absolutely TORTURED MY CHILDREN?! What the HELL makes you think I would EVER give you a single ounce of remorse, let alone my time and love ever again…!?”
“I'm sorry…?” He whispered in a broken, defeated voice. His words hit Mom straight in the heart, and her jaw fell slack in disbelief as the breath was stolen from her lungs.
Riley and I waited for one of two things to happen; A, she would abandon everything she promised us and give into his plead, or B, she would finally disown him, take our side, and prove she truly meant what she said in The North. The look on Alexei’s face proved this was no game. He truly was desperate for his mother’s acceptance and wasn’t pulling some twisted trick on her. Mom was quiet for so long that I accepted she was going to give into the first option and had already begun preparing myself for the pain I would feel when she admitted it.
“Your apologies mean nothing to me…” she whispered finally to the entire room's disbelief, “It pains me that to say it, more than you will ever know, but I have had enough. I understand your illness, Alexei, but the fact that you are better and still continuing with this nonsense proves to me that you simply are just evil. You let Joshua use you like a puppet, and all you two do is feed one another’s insanity. If you cannot end the war, then I cannot ever consider forgiving you for what you have done.”
Alexei stammered on horrified whimpers, his jaw slack, “I-I am-m doing this to give us all a better life. Can you imagine if we ruled England solely…? We would finally not have The Committee over our heads all the time…? I can, I can give you whatever you desire…!?”
“That is where you are still an immature child,” she snapped over him, “You do not understand the purpose of The Committee. They are here to make sure all four kingdoms are properly following the rules of the God’s Sent. As cruel as they can be, they are a mechanism used to prevent problems such as the one you are causing.”
“Then why haven’t they stopped me?” Alexei despondently croaked, “Why allow me to bring you all here if they can stop the madness?”
“Because unfortunately, you haven’t broken any rules…” I sighed miserably, my head in my lap as I morosely continued, “Every action you and Joshua have executed pushed the other kingdoms to agree with your bending, and you knew exactly what you needed to do to keep your noses clean. The Committee will not interfere with war between kingdoms unless they absolutely have to, and you know that. It was obvious with the way you raised us that you had plans to take over well before Levi left. You wouldn’t have made me a swordsman had you not expected to fight with the Common Weapon Law.”
“And we were too foolish to see it coming…” Levi broke in as everyone turned to him, “We should have known as soon as you picked up your first sword. Sick or not, you and Joshua were planning this from the start. You disagreed with the way your mother and I ran the kingdom, and because we wanted Riley to rule, you exacted your revenge as soon as possible.”
“Why Riley? What made him so special?” Alexei breathed seriously.
“He’s level-headed and kind. Admittedly, he can be timid, but he isn’t afraid to fight for what he believes in. Riley has always been obedient and trustworthy, from the moment he was born to this very second. You were out of control, and no matter how many chances we gave you, you still plunged a knife in our backs. Dmitri was far too young for us to consider him, which made Riley an obvious choice.” Levi said in a flat tone.
I thought Riley would relish in his father’s approval, but it meant nothing to him. “I just don’t understand you…” Riley began to Alexei, “What is it you want from this life? You have hated every single one of us for twenty-eight years, and now all of a sudden you want us to skip through the castle and sing songs? What the hell changed, Alexei? After everything you’ve done… How could we possibly believe that you’ve changed?”
“If you’d like me to be honest, I can be, but I do not want any backlash for my words,” he barked, eyeing me especially. We all stayed quiet, allowing him to continue, “I suppose you can say I have matured a bit. Having a child has changed my perspectives, more than I ever could imagine. I want my son to be with his family. He has no one, and he’s beginning to grow aware of that. The older he gets the more he craves your attention, and I can’t put if off any longer. We all know I am a control freak, and I did what I did because I needed complete control of my environment. But even after gaining it… I realized how lonely I truly am. When Riley and Morgan left The West… that loneliness became an awful reality, one I cannot seem to adjust to. I never thought I’d lose you all, and I honestly cannot stomach it. I may be a ‘ruthless son of a bitch’, but I am still human, and I crave acceptance and validation. I want you all to be a part of his life, and mine. We can win this war together, and share in the glory…”
“You are full of fucking shit,” I barked, which made everyone jump slightly.
Alexei looked up to me in horror, “What…?”
“You are pulling the same crap you’ve pulled since you were born. This victim card you flash is well passed expired. You’re scared of losing the war for the first time ever, and that’s why we’re all here. I’m not surprised Joshua has no clue this meeting is happening. You’re scared of your own shadow, let alone him, and you’re trying to make amends so no one sticks a sword in your back. You think if you kiss our asses that we’ll come home and start fighting for your side, and I honestly cannot believe the balls you have to try and sway us. Putting aside all of the issues that each of us have with you, we are in the position to curb this war to our liking, finally. You know this, and you are scared, so you’re trying to make allies with the easiest targets. This little charade you’re pulling is admittedly quite cute, but it’s nothing but lies.”
“You know nothing…” he angrily snarled, knowing full well at this point he was caught.
“I know nothing? Do you want to know what I know, Alexei…?” I sat up straight and tall, which did admittedly intimidate him a little, “I know what kind of person you truly are underneath all of that ego, and do you know what that person is? A pathetic, gullible child. You couldn’t lift a finger to fight your own battles, so you threw all of the blame on Joshua, and went behind his back to use it as a defense mechanism. You let everyone fight your battles for you while you reap the benefits. I know that you made it your life’s mission to utterly destroy the four of us, and you may have succeeded momentarily, but now that we are building the pieces back together you cannot accept your failure. You had ample amounts of opportunity to redeem yourself, but those days are long gone.”
“Where exactly did all of this come from? You were a sniveling child up until the point you left The West, and now you have impenetrable confidence? Let’s talk about that for a moment, about the façade your wearing, Dmitri. You have it in your head that you’re some hot shot because you can whip a sword around. News flash, you wouldn’t be able to do shit had I not taught you how to fight. You would be absolutely nothing had it not been for me, and I am growing tired of you running your fucking mouth!” He bellowed, panting on adrenaline.
I did not once raise my voice as I spoke over his harsh breaths, “For thirteen years, all I did was look up to you. I did everything you asked of me, and still continued to let you treat me the way you did. There are things that even the people at this table don’t know happened between you, Joshua, and I, including Riley…” I saw the terror that rocked through my family’s faces out of the corner of my eye, “The true horrors of my childhood stay locked in my memories for a reason. The nightmares that keep me up every night are so crippling that I sometimes cannot distinguish if they are real or not.
You pushed my parents to pure insanity, which in turn made them forget I existed. You tried to take Riley away from me, so I was left with no one but you. You thought if you completely disconnected me from the world that I would run into your arms, and for a short amount of time, that did happen. You were the first person I ran to when he…” I pointed angrily to my father, “turned his back on us without a God damn word and never looked back. I ran straight to your side and begged for your love and support… and was met with nothing.
Then you stole my mother from me, and made me watch as soldiers dragged her out of the kingdom. You separated me from Riley, the one person in this world who could protect me, and made him spend nights crying and worrying about whether or not he would see me again in the morning. It gave you a sick thrill to see me weeping at your feet because you thought it was the perfect opportunity to break me. The fact that I was able to escape that awful castle is what gives me my confidence. I have shaken off the Stockholm Syndrome, and I can clearly see the monster you truly are. I gave you chance after chance, even after you spent years letting Joshua beat me, and you still continued to take advantage of me.”
“How poetic…” Alexei sniffed, his eyes burning with rage, “The valiant hero’s backstory. You truly are a hypocrite. You say I play the victim card, yet all you do is wave it in my face…”
“He has every fucking right to do so!” Riley yelled madly over him, “Do you not remember all of the shit you have put us through!? It would take centuries to sift through every horrible event from our childhood! I thank God every night that I was old enough to protect him in the little ways I could, but then I feel guilty beyond belief for being thankful it wasn’t me in his situation. I blamed myself for years for what you did to Dmitri, but I am tired of doing that.”
“Riley…?” I weakly tried to console him, but he talked over my plea.
“I have every right to feel at peace; I was barely thirteen years old…” Riley’s voice broke, and tears streamed down his face, “and I had to handle losing both my parents, as well as watching you unmercifully torture my brother every single day. Do you know how painful it is, to love someone so much, but be too young to protect them? I was terrified every single second of my life that you were going to kill him, and I would have no one. I had to be strong for Dmitri, to keep him from losing his ever-loving mind, yet no one was strong for me.
No one protected me, or told me everything was going to be ok. No one shielded me from the horror, and no one helped me shield him from it. I had never felt weaker, then the day Joshua branded him….” our parents froze in compete shock; Alexei’s jaw fell taut in shame, “All I could do was bang on that door and listen to Dmitri’s unholy screams. I still hear them every night in my dreams, so vividly that when I wake up, I have to stop myself from running to his room to make sure it isn’t real.
What makes it worse is that it was once a very real reality we both had to suffer through. I can barely look at him half the time, because all I see is the numerous scars that he wears. I gave my life to protect him, and you still took him from me and tortured him again. No matter how old I am, or how much I try, I cannot stop you from hurting him. I am completely useless, and how he even stands me at this point amazes me every single day. The fact you think you have the right to even think about asking us for forgiveness proves just how selfish and moronic you are, and enough is enough, Alexei. We are done protecting you…”
Alexei fell dead quiet. Levi was staring at the table, visibly shaking from the emotions he desperately tried to hold back, and Mom had a hand over her mouth as she tried to comprehend Riley’s words. I had my hands in my lap as I awaited some kind of reaction from Alexei. After a full minute had passed, a single tear slid down his cheek. The action caused numerous responses from everyone in the group. My gasp from seeing it caused Riley to look up, and when he also saw the tear, something snapped inside him. “Riley…!” Mom cried as he shot up and tried to strangle Alexei.
I darted over and grabbed his arms as he cried out in anger. “DON’T YOU DARE SHED A SINGLE TEAR FOR US…!” Riley screamed bloody murder as his own angry tears raced down his face, “DON’T YOU DARE, YOU SELFISH BASTARD!”
“Relax, right now!” I cried as he violently twisted in my arms.
“How dare you…?! How dare you…!?” Riley hysterically sobbed, brokenly choking on his words as he started to fall slack in my embrace.
I pulled him into my chest and tried desperately to help him calm down as Alexei scoffed once. “Since no one wants to compromise, then I have a different proposition,” he began.
“Which is?” I asked.
“We turn this fight from the battlefield to a family matter,” he said, smiling devilishly. Riley and I swallowed in horror as Alexei evilly clasped his fingers together, “Come now, it’ll be fun. A brother to brother stand off for the crown.”
“If I wanted to kill Dmitri, don’t you think I would have done it by now, you fool? I have no intentions to harm him!”
“You know, Riley, I wish you would!” Alexei yelled, slamming his fist down on the table, “You seem to forget that it was you and I who were best friends, not you and the runt! You abandoned me to coddle that brat!”
Riley ripped at my grip again, “That’s because of the way you treated him!”
“So what, I smacked him around. He was a worthless little shit from the beginning!”
“Letting someone brand your brother isn’t normal, you sick fuck! Why would I ever stand up for someone who did such brutal things to a child?”
“Because I'm your brother too!” he screamed, panting on adrenaline, “No one in this family gives a fuck that I exist anymore. It’s all about Dmitri; Oh, Dmitri this, Dmitri that! What about Alexei, huh?! Who was there for me when I spent nights alone in my room crying myself to sleep? Who was there for me when I couldn’t snap myself out of attacks of paranoia!? You were… Riley. You were the only one who was ever there for me, and now you’ve left me too.”
Riley had to swallow back the pain Alexei was inflicting on him, “I am done being the mediator for this family. Everyone expects me to keep the peace, to stop us from killing each other, and I am done being forced into that role by you. Your act doesn’t work on me anymore, regardless of how close we once were. You’re violent, and delusional. If you took your medications property, then you wouldn’t have been this way….”
“The medications didn’t do shit,” Alexei snapped, “Do you want to know what truly helped? Hearing the sound of people screaming…” his voice darkened, and his eye began to twitch ever so slightly, “Watching the life leave someone’s eyes… is the most satisfying thing in the world to me. It calms me, and makes me feel like I’m in control. I can’t throw that feeling away, Riley…” he hissed as the darkness we had truly known him for began to take over.
The four of us swallowed in horror at the demon that had entered his soul. “Don’t drag down an entire country to fulfill your twisted desires,” Riley tried.
Alexei slowly leaned across the table towards me, “Want to know why I let Joshua do as he pleased when you were a child? Because I loved the way it sounded when you screamed...”
“Alexei…?” Morgan warned; I sat there still as stone.
“I loved watching the blood slither from your wounds…I loved to see your eyes roll into the back of your head when he choked you. Every bruise on your frail little body reminded me that I owned you. You were and will forever be our toy, Dmitri Mortimer. You can pretend to play Cavalry all you want; at the end of the day you will come crawling back to me, because you don’t know anything other than the sound of my voice, and the feel of my hand on your adorable little face…” Riley shot up and grabbed Alexei’s neck before he slammed his head into the table, which made Alexei choke off in horror.
Our parents were absolutely traumatized behind me and trembled as Alexei tried to grab Riley’s throat, only to be met with another punch to the face. Riley threw him into the corner of the room, where Alexei’s head hit the wall, which made him groan in agony. He then slammed his foot down on Alexei’s chest, which knocked the wind out of him so he couldn’t continue, “Did you get out everything you wanted to say? Are you proud of yourself? You came here to make a fool of us. You got bored with the war, so you're taking out your frustrations out on easy targets. You’re pathetic, as usual, and that’s why you’re alone.”
“You’ll regret this, Riley! He doesn’t know you like I do! He’s nothing but a tool! He’ll turn on you the second he gets the chance…!” Alexei hacked wildly.
“Yeah, how do you know that?!”
“Because that’s how I raised him to be…!” He bawled, panting like a caged animal.
The next sound to fill the room was my soft scoff of pure disbelief. The four turned to me as I brought a hand over my face, and trembled from the amount of pain that rocked through my body. “I can’t do this anymore…” I hiccuped.
“Dmitri…?” Mom tried.
“I cannot, stand, this inanity anymore…” I dragged my hand down my face, and covered my mouth as if my brain were trying to stop my lips from forcing the words out, “I absolutely have had enough. This family is a fucking train wreck and has derailed many years ago. The only people I have an ounce of respect for are Riley and Mom, and if I had it my way, I would take them as far away from England as possible and forget The West ever existed…”
“I…?”
“Shut your fucking mouth…!” I growled to Levi, who cringed at the abhorrent glare I gave him, “This entire war is because of you. You are a failure as a king, a father, a husband… the list goes on for eternity. You have not given a single fuck about us for years, so don’t even try and fake it now. The moment you left was the opportunity that bastard…” I jabbed my finger in Alexei’s direction, “needed to execute his plans. If you had stayed and finished what you started like a man, none of us would have been in this situation. You turned your back because you were too weak and selfish to keep fighting. Well guess what, it’s over. Thousands of people have, and will continue to, die because of your stupid mistakes, and I pray every night that you will be a name on that list. The fact that you had the audacity to even show up today proves how little you care about anyone but yourself.”
“I know of my mistakes…?” He tried breathlessly.
“No, you truly don’t. If this moron hasn’t made it clear enough to you already, let me seal the deal,” I ripped my shirt sleeve up and revealed the brand in my arm, which made him wince in agony, “This is merely the beginning of what that creature has done. You at least could have taken Riley and I with you. You could have protected us from this mess, but you didn’t love or care about us enough to do so. You had no problem knocking Morgan up, but taking responsibility for your children was where you drew the line.” I turned to the rest of the group, who had nothing to say at this point. “I am leaving. I am done giving Alexei what he wants. I have a war to win, and a family to return to. I promised The North that I would come home and never speak of this day again, and I intend on doing so.”
“Run back to safety, you little bitch…” Alexei snarled.
I laughed in his face, shaking my head, “God, you are such a child. Twenty-nine years old, and yet you still can’t be mature for more than five seconds. Your tantrum doesn’t work on us anymore, little boy. You can say what you like about me, but I am not a criminal. I absolutely run to safety, because it’s the first time in years I have had it. What you think is a trick I'm playing on Andrew truly is just me being grateful for what he has done for me. He and Cerelia have been kinder to me than my own parents, and I will never be able to repay them for it. If you think for five seconds I am going to give up a happy life with them to return to your sad excuse for a kingdom, then you truly are delusional. I have friends, a partner, a family; everything I begged every night for as a child. I would rather take a bullet to the head then give up seeing their smiles every morning. I am going to continue fighting for their safety, and many others, and nothing you say will change that.”
“You’d give up being prince of a united country for some stupid kids?”
“I’d give up everything and much, much more for them, and for the kingdom we reside in.” I turned for the door, then paused and glanced over my shoulder, “Regarding the rest of you; this is the last time I will see Alexei outside of the battlefield. I have made my decision and stand by it undoubtedly. It is time for you to make yours. This war has become between he and I, and you will pick a side, here and now. If you chose to fight alongside him, so be it, but don’t run to me when it bites you in the ass. If you so much as hesitate for a single moment, then do not dare follow me out of this room. I have a war to win, and will not tolerate insolence like this any longer.” I confidently said before turning the knob.
As soon as I did, Riley, Mom, and surprisingly Levi, stood. Alexei’s jaw hit the floor as the three collected their things and rounded the table to follow me into the hall. “You’re all joking, right!? You’re fucking joking?!” He screamed bloody murder. Riley laid a hand on my shoulder as we walked, a smile playing on his lips. Levi and Mom followed silently, but I could feel their pride radiating from behind me. “You morons are going to regret this! I can give you everything, everything you’ve ever desired! You will not win this war, Dmitri! I created you, and you are nothing without me…!” His voice cracked, and it was music to my ears. He darted through the doorway and stood at the end of the hall, shaking like a leaf as tears bubbled in his eyes, “I am talking to you, you miserable bastard! You are making a huge mistake! No one is ever going to trust you, ever! You’re a backstabbing traitor! I will kill you if it’s the last thing I do!”
“Let him throw his tantrum.” I whispered as the four of us walked to the main foyer. Alexei’s wails of defeat echoed through the castle, and he set to work smashing everything he could in the conference room.
Andrew was waiting at the entrance with pride in his eyes, and patted my back warmly before turning to Levi. “Are you coming back with us?” he snapped.
Levi sighed deeply, “I suppose I should. I have information to relay to you briefly.”
“Let’s get it over with, then,” Andrew replied before leading us to the waiting car.