Lucius (ONC 2021)

11

I am going to kill him.

Octavius straightened. "You mean to kill the king?"

"I do," Decius said, glancing at the lifeless Minerva. His blood boiled. "He has gone too far. Lucius killed my family, my innocent family. He will pay for that." Decius drew his sword, eyes running down the blade. "There is no other way."

---

Planning the assassination of a king was no easy business.

Planning the assassination of a brother was no impersonal business.

Octavius enlisted a small unit of his fellow soldiers whose loyalty still lay with Decius as imperator and had been able to find several groups of Ascantal soldiers scattered throughout the city, but Decius knew it wouldn't be enough. Lucius' paranoia had only grown since he began his massacre, not abated. As the bodies piled up on the pyres, Lucius' suspicion rose up with them, the smoke of fear clouding Fure. An entire legion now guarded the Tonius Hill on top of Lucius' own personal guards. Decius felt trapped in his own house. The one time he requested an audience with Lucius, Lucius refused. Instead of allowing an audience, he had sent a letter.

"Brother, I know you do not understand why your wife and son had to die. I know you don't understand why your daughter has to die. But you must try to see. The Ascantals were going to rise against the both of us for dethroning their interrex and stripping the senate of power. I heard the stirrings of unrest, the same as you. Except I am the only one who heard them for what they really were: conspiracy. If I hadn't struck when I did, the Ascantals would have rebelled against us, in their longing for power that doesn't belong to them. And we both would have perished.

"They are dangerous, Decius. Monsters, in what looks to be human skin. In a world where the gods are dead, where they don't look down on us, trust wins no favors. You can't love creatures such as those, no matter how hard you try to deceive yourself. You don't understand this yet, but you will. I know your clear sight, brother. You will come to see the truth, in the end.

"I know you are angry with me. But that anger will wither with time, as you realize that I was right. I will wait to speak with you in person until then.

"Your brother, Lucius."

Decius' hands had shaken with anger and disbelief on reading the letter. With a yell, he had crumbled it and thrown it into the fire, watching it burn with gritted teeth. He had no words to express his rage over Lucius' words. There was just his urge to drive his blade into Lucius' heart and watch his own body burn, watch the flames devour him the way they devoured his words.

Now Decius walked through the dark streets of Fure, attempting to release some of his anger through his fast-paced stride. The threat against Diana's life made him want to charge headlong into the palace and kill whoever he needed to in order to get to Lucius. You will not hurt my daughter! he wanted to scream. I will not let you!

But that wasn't an option yet.

In his quieter moments, Decius thought seriously about his decision to kill Lucius. After all, he was his younger brother, someone he had watched grow up, taught the art of combat, and fought beside in the war. Lucius had saved Decius' life in the end, fending off Pirilius and keeping Decius from being torn to pieces.

Is it right to kill him out of vengeance? Decius had wondered silently to the gods. Am I right to feel such anger?

Then he saw the fresh dirt over the graves in his gardens or walked through his empty, silent house and it all came back to him. In those moments, his anger was affirmed and justified. Lucius took life from so many, including his own brother's family. If the only way to stop him is to kill him, then I will do it.