The light of Xal poked through the gaps of the trees, his burning rays bringing an oppressive heat. Galliard wipes the sweat from his face as he and his brother dart through the trees of the forest.
The warmth radiating off the beams was far more brutal here than anywhere else in the Shattered Isles. Though it was to be expected since the sun's warmth was being amplified to unnatural levels. The thick magic surrounding them increasing the already sweltering temperature. The light of Xal that hit this particular island was enchanted to be five times as hot to keep most mortals at bay. A rather extreme measure, in the Lord's opinion, but it had worked for the past few thousand years. So its effectiveness was undoubted in any case.
"Would you keep up?" Wrath snapped at the younger man, his annoyance clear through the telepathic message. The wind blowing around them was so fierce that the boy wouldn't be able to hear him had he spoken aloud.
He was getting annoyed at his youngest kin, already forced to travel at what he considered to be an agonisingly slow pace. The little prince had just started seriously training recently so he couldn't be expected to keep up with him.
"But I can't breathe brother," Galliard pants, "Why do we need to travel by land anyways, shouldn't we just teleport there?"
"You wouldn't be in your current state if you stayed back at the keep." The Lord grumbled, annoyed that his youngest sibling had insisted on following him.
"How could I possibly stay home knowing where you were going." Galliard huffed, wiping the sweat from his brow. "It's been so long since I've seen our aunts and cousins"
"This is not a trip of leisure, I am here for work." Wrath sighed bounding from one tree to the next
The new Lord of Wrath had received a message saying that there was word of his lesser family planning to overthrow him; he wanted to speak to his aunts and judge for himself if there was any truth to these rumours. The brothers haven't seen their extended family since the death of their mother. They undoubtedly would have come to our father's funeral. However, only the lords and ladies of the clans, barring their heirs, were allowed to attend.
"I doubt that our own family would want to overthrow you, brother." Galliard almost cries in relief when he notices the thick cover of trees begins to make way.
"Then you are a fool, who knows nothing of how the world works." Wrath stated bluntly, frustrated at how naive he could be. "If there is one thing that can make even your closest family turn against you, it's the promise of power."
It wouldn't be the first time in the clan's history that a lord has been overthrown by a family member. Not to mention that the new High Lord's position was not as secure as he would have liked. With no Lady by his side and no viable heirs besides his brother, his hold on the throne was far from unquestionable.
Wrath comes to a stop at the opening of the trees and waits for Galliard. His younger brother grunted at Xal's glare, squinting and covering his face from its brightness.
"What is the point in living in a place that is this hot!" Galliard complains, exasperated at the choice of locale.
"It's only like this in the surrounding area, once you cross the barrier everything will cool down." Wrath explained curtly walking to a shimmering wall of air.
Galliard reaches forward cautiously, this would be his first time going through a barrier barring the one surrounding his castle home. He hadn't been to many places with such magic and his extended family usually came to them to visit.
His fingers slip through the nearly invisible wall first, a wisp of wind and cool air biting at his fingertips. Galliard hears his brother huff right before the palm of his hand connects with his back.
The young prince tries in vain to stop his fall, but not fast enough to catch himself. His body meets the ground much faster than he anticipates and he lands with a resounding thud. Wrath's laughter can be heard as he steps past the barrier himself.
"What was that for!" Galliard bellows, his bones cracking back into place as he stands up. "Why would you do that?"
"I did it because I could do so, you were taking too long." Wrath says with a shrug of his shoulders.
His face blossoms with the kiss of a blush across his supple cheeks, and anger erupts from deep within his chest. But as he's about to unleash the fury that is his words onto his eldest kin, he turns around and walks away.
"Don't turn your back on me!" Galliard fumes at the older man. "Apologise this instant!"
As soon as those words spilt past his lips he regretted them instantly. In a moment his brother was before him, a hand gripped around his throat flinging them both back through the barrier and into the strong bark of a Glet tree.
There was a loud crack as Galliard's skull split open, the blood dripping down on him like a waterfall. Wrath's eyes flash in fury and disgust, the younger prince knew he'd truly infuriated his brother with his words.
They were never friends and hardly even brothers. Galliard had only seen the man a handful of times before his father's death. Now they had been thrust into each other's lives as strangers. Thinking he could rebel against him in such a way had been a grave error.
"Watch your tongue boy!" Wrath growls out, the words feral and laced with magical power that makes the very air tremble. "You need not forget that I am your Lord and head of your house."
"Y..yes your majesty." Galliard chokes out barely able to speak past the blood in his throat. "A thousand apologies, I did not know my tongue."
"You will stay silent for the rest of the trip, I do not wish to hear a peep out of you, or you will be punished." Wrath spoke plainly, tightening his grip and crushing his throat. "And when we return, find yourself nowhere near my person."
He nods his head to the best of his ability and Wrath drops him to his feet where he bends over and grasps hold of his own throat. Spitting out a mouthful of blood even as the damage began healing itself. He looks up to see his brother stepping back through the veil, never looking back at him.
Galliard races over so he can keep up, not wanting to make his eldest sibling more furious than he already was. Galliard slows down when he is a few steps behind him and studies his brother from behind. Taking the moment to clean himself with a simple spell.
He'd always felt lesser than his brother, compared to him he was clearly the lower of the sons of Wrath. Looks, strength, tactics and even political power. There was nothing he surpassed his brother in it seemed. Not only that, but he was an eternity away from ever reaching his magical prowess. Wrath was the prodigy child of the House of Wrath, excelling in every field. It'd been many millennia since someone with his potential had been born to their bloodline and he knew it.
Since rejoining the clans, the young prince had been ridiculed and looked down upon. He has no idea why his father waited so long to bring him back to his family. He found himself hating the man for it at times, something that brought him shame now that his father had passed.
Whatever it was the boy was sure that his father had good enough reasons…whatever they may have been.
Galliard's thoughts were interrupted as the scenery of the village they entered changed before him. The place was colourful and so full of life, that he almost forgave them for the apocalyptic heat outside of it…almost. Children were running around laughing and music filled the air with a sweet melody. Everyone here seemed happy, and at peace, a vast contrast from the towns he regularly visited in his youth.
Wrath could feel his brother's excitement pouring off of him as he gazed around the village in awe. He clicked his tongue at Galliard's innocence, this childish boy wouldn't last a single second out in the real world and certainly not in a war. Hopefully, he could at least find himself a suitable bride to secure his bloodline if he was not going to be good for anything else.
He reluctantly slows down a bit knowing that the boy was not paying enough attention and might get lost. The last thing he would want to do is hear Gabriella nagging about the boy getting left behind. Oh, how she'd hum and haw on and on about how he should have been keeping an eye on him. Wrath stays silent for a moment and allows his brother to marvel at his surroundings. It was his heir's first time visiting after all.
"Enough gawking, we've wasted enough time." Wrath motions to the boy after a minute or so deciding it was time to get moving. "I don't want to spend more time than I need to here."
Galliard bows, not saying a word like he was told, even though Wrath's back was turned to him. Jogging to catch up and following closely behind. They stopped in front of a small wooden hut, confusion flashed across his face at the sight of it. He'd been told that there were two dozen adults and their children here. This place was not room enough to fit three people let alone twenty-four and their spawn.
"This is the place?" Galliard asks, forgetting that he was supposed to keep silent. "It is so….small."
"It only looks this way on the outside." Wrath answers, reaching out with a hand.
Wrath pushes down the handle to the door and it opens with a grating creak. The two step in and Galliard's eyes widen, darting around in utter surprise. True to the lord's words they stepped into a massive courtyard. The walls were not of wood as they seemed from the outside but of massive stone blocks bigger than he was tall.
The inside of the house seemed bigger than an entire town which made the young lord wonder how they possibly hid it so well. It couldn't be the barrier, that was simply a warding shield. Galliard knows very little of this world, he'd freely admit that himself. This just proves in his mind that he has a lot of learning left to do.
"My Gods, this place is incredible." Galliard spins around to take in the rest of the room.
In the process, he notices that the door has disappeared and in its place a long corridor held up by stone statues greets them.
"Lord Wrath, Galliard, It's a pleasure to see you've arrived safely." Ivory, the eldest of their aunts, makes him turn sharply in her direction.
A slim woman faced them, pale and with hair the colour of a starless sky. Her brown eyes are half closed as her smile splits her face. She flings open her arms in her nephew's direction, beckoning him towards her.
"Aunt Ivory!" the young boy exclaims running to her and wrapping his arms around her in a warm embrace which she reciprocates with a smile.
"There is very little that can harm us in our travels," Wrath says, pausing in thought. "Well harm me at least..."
"Are you not surprised by our visit?" Galliard questions, looking up with his arms still tightly around her. Deciding to ignore another one of his brother's obvious barbs at his current level of strength. "Brother, did you not say that you did not inform anyone of our arrival?"
"We have been expecting this since word of your father's passing." Ivory pats him on his arms. "I know how your brother thinks, he might look like your mother but he is certainly your father's child."
Galliard scrunches up his face as he lets go but does not say anything, his father was a very kind man, that's not a word one would ever use to describe his brother.
"Since you anticipated my arrival, I hope that everyone is here that needs to be here." Wrath stated rather than asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes, my Lord." She curtsied deeply, before gesturing with a gloved hand. "Right this way."
They follow her down a hall into a grand courtyard. It glitters within the sunlight, a product of the well-tended garden with crystal lilies and sapphire roses.
They soon enter the large area where their extended family is sitting around the table. Whatever conversation they were having is stopped by the appearance of their lord. The place would be silent as the grave were it not for the odd flame raven cawing overhead. The young man takes a seat, content to let the silence linger for a moment more.
The tension is so thick it would take a fool not to notice it. It swirled through the air, grazing the skin of every soul in the room. Taunting them, though none took the bait. The silence continued to fill every corner and every crack of the room. Galliard could sense that something was wrong the instant they stepped foot inside.
"I presume that you know why I am here." Wrath is the first to break the silence.
His voice was hard and laced with only a minuscule amount of the power that he possessed. Still enough to shake the bones of those that heard it. Even as he observed his kin he could see them fail to hide the effect his power had over them.
"Why all the hostility, cousin?" Barnard, the youngest boy of the older bunch cheerfully chirps but even Galliard can hear the underlined mocking in his voice.
Barnard, youngest of Ivory's sons. A cocksure and arrogant man who often speaks before thinking. His mouth had not endeared him to Wrath when they had met as children. That has not changed in the decade since.
"You know very well why," Wrath said short and curt. "Do not play games with me, cousin."
"It's a shame that you would even think that we would do such a thing to you." Celest tittered, the young woman's false smile strained with poorly concealed worry.
Celest, Ivory's eldest daughter, would look like a clone of her mother. Were it not for the golden locks that fell around her shoulders. The only blonde at the table stood out with her white dress and gleaming jewellery. Ever the attention seeker that one.
Looking for praise and glory wherever she went. Her looks belied a strength beyond any of her siblings, however. As a powerful sword maiden, she'd earned her renown as much on the battlefield as off it.
Having fought alongside him she knew even if all of them fought him together they would have no chance of success. They were not weak, far from it in fact, but her distant kin was simply at a level of power beyond any of their reach. Not to mention the sentinels that would surely be watching, out of sight perhaps, but always watching.
"It is your birthright to lead the clans," Maze spoke after her sister, chuckling shakily. "As your family, we would never think to take that from you."
"You are the best person to rule over us all," Onyx grumbled, not even trying to hide her contempt. Hissing at her brother when he kicked her on the side of the shin.
Maze and Onyx, twin sisters that looked and acted like they'd rather been born as men. Short-cut black hair and ever-in wargear. One was always scared to speak her mind and the other was too blunt by far. They seemed like opposites in every way but looks. Both with a drive to prove themselves for different reasons.
"Precisely, the clans would fall to ruin under anyone else's reign." Fernando smiled brightly, out of all of them he may have even been the best liar among them. If it was just him he may have even had the chance to convince Wrath of their innocence.
Fernando, one part adventurer and another part raider. The man held a charisma that had both helped and hindered him many times over. Though he was often disparaged as a pirate, none doubted his skill in politics or at sea. He'd made his fortune leading adventures into the shattered isles. Discovering lost treasures and securing trade with other nations.
Wrath stared at him for a moment, out of all of his cousins he was the most problematic. For how much he was hated he'd amassed a large fleet of warships that had experienced much. With ties to many pirate lords and merchants he'd be no small headache should he rebel.
Now that Galliard was here and able to see them face to face, to hear them talk, he realised that his brother had valid concerns. Even though they were saying everything that should persuade him of their loyalty, only a fool would fall for it. It would be laughable for them to go against Wrath, at least openly. The High Lord is strong beyond measure and he would not take lightly any betrayal even if it was family to do so. In fact, he may come down all the harder on them for it.
"Though we are not surprised that you would doubt our sincerity," Dejon admitted to wide eyes from his family. "You are now leader of all the clans, a thousand watchful eyes would make anyone paranoid."
"Precisely, it is normal to be suspicious of those around you, but we are family," Zera nodded, reaching forward to lay a hand on his, pulling away as if she'd been burned when she felt something shifting beneath his gauntlet. "And in this family, we stick together." She finished, hiding the look of fear that flashed across her face.
Dejon and Zera were closer in age to Galliard, they were the eldest of Ivory's grandchildren and the children of Fernando. Young, but they'd already proven themselves as captains of their own ships. Something their father oft-praised them for, usually loudly and with a mug of something frothy in his hands.
Silence falls upon everyone as Wrath takes their words in, looking at all of them individually. Galliard watched his brother patiently waiting to see what he would do to the obvious liars. Though what came from his brother's mouth was the last thing he would have ever suspected.
"Perhaps you are right." Wrath speaks softly after a long silence. "I shouldn't have let my doubts cloud my judgement of you."
Shock goes through the prince but he masks it before it could show on his face. He was sure that his brother had caught the underlying threats in their words, open or otherwise and could not understand why he would do nothing about it.
"My apologies for wasting your time but since there is no problem here I must get going," Wrath announced, nodding to his kin. "There is plenty that needs to be done."
"I shall lead you out, my lord." Aunt Ivory spoke, her voice tinged with the open shock that Galliard felt.
Wrath stands up from the table and their cousins follow, bowing to him and giving him a synchronised. "My Lord." He nods his head in acknowledgement of the farewell but turns his back all the same.
"Till next time," Wrath waved a hand over his shoulder."Galliard let's go."
"Yes, brother." The little prince gets up and follows him out of the room, walking behind him, he watches his brother's back, thoughts swirling through his mind.
Ivory lets them out and Galliard gives her a hug not knowing when he would see her again. The older woman holds him for a moment, smiling at the younger boy with genuine fondness. They walk back through the town to get to the exit portal but this time the young prince pays no attention to the things going on around him.
"Say whatever it is that is eating you alive." Wrath stops abruptly with annoyance in his voice.
"Why did you walk away when they were so obviously taunting you?" Galliard questioned gently not wanting to overstep for the second time in one day. "Why did you not punish them right then and there?"
"You naive little boy." Wrath sighed, ignoring the glare his brother gave him in response. "This was never about me punishing them, I simply wished to let them know that I am watching."
Galliard nodded in understanding, his thoughts travelling to how little he knows about being a prince and how to handle both the vassals and courts of the one thousand.
"Oh, and you will receive your punishment for speaking earlier as I promised." Wrath spoke as he stepped through the barrier once more.
"Oh come on!" Galliard groans as he follows his brother through it for what is hopefully the last time.