A Kingdom of Bloodshed

*¬*Chapter Four*¬*

"Kaz?" Her voice is thick, fading quickly. She reaches up and brushes a lock of hair out of my face. "I'm here." I reply, but then her eyes are rolling back into her head and Althea passes out. Her body relaxing as sleep takes over her. I brush the hair from her face, seeing the swelling and the bruises, the blood that's trickling from a large cut on her temple. I see the struggle and the fight, the things my brother did to her. I don't think my fury can get any worse until I see them.

The bruise marks on her throat. The markings that our mother had when my father would go into raging fits and then abuse her. He did horrible, sexually violent things to my mother but since I was a child I couldn't do anything to stop them. I had to sit there and watch as she put up with it.

I was afraid my father influenced Augustus, I was afraid that he could have ended up like him; that either of us could. Now I see that one of my fears came true. Examining her more closely I follow the finger marks down her body, her arms, her wrists.

I need to know if he touched her elsewhere, but I will not break consent. "Arrow!" I shout for her, she can look.

Arrow arrives in the room, bowing her head, "Yes sir?" "I need you to examine Miss Althea. I need to know how far those bruises go."

"Oh my gosh! What happened to her?"

I snarl, "My brother." Pinching the bridge of my nose, I inhale to calm myself. Once I feel the murderous edge begin to wear off I say, "Please, check her over. I will return once I've had a word with my sibling." Arrow nods, her eyes filled with worry. Storming out of the room, I follow after Augusutus, never wanting to kill anyone more than I do right now.

⤗

I find my brother pacing in his room.  "What the hell did you do?" I snap, upon entering his chambers. Augustus pauses before the roaring fire in his room, laying a hand on the mantle and staring into the flames, "Why are you taking her side? I'm your brother, your blood relative. She isn't even fae, she's a halfbreed! A nothing." His voice is low, but the anger rumbling through it causes my fists to clench.

"She's here as my guest, as are the other females. You are to treat them with respect while they're here. This is how it's always been. I need her to see if she's my mate, my equal. You know I've struggled to find one."

Augustus snorts, "I can tell you that the halfbreed isn't going to be it. I don't get what your obsession with her is."

"I'm not obsessed with her. She intrigues me, I've never seen someone stand up to you like that before and not want to shit themselves."

Augusts snarls, "Yeah and if she ever does that again, I will kill her."
Now it's my turn to  be angry, the force of my fury leaves the dust in the room quaking. "You will do no such thing." Augusts turns to me now, leaving the warmth of the flame in his peripheral, "Oh... it makes sense now."

He turns to me fully, placing his hands by his sides, "You think she's it. That she's your mate." Folding my hands behind my back, I walk towards him, keeping eye contact the entire time, "I don't know for sure, but I have an inkling that maybe she could be. As you've stated, she's a halfblood so I think that could be messing with the bond snapping into place. But it's there, something is there and I feel it everytime I touch her, or she looks at me."

Augustus's eyes darken and he snarls, "I don't care, we made a pact. If I can't find a mate, then you don't either. I will not be forgotten by you. Just because you're older doesn't mean you're better than me. Father was a fool to appoint you head of this Kingdom."

I choose to ignore him. Instead turning to the flames and trying to calm myself, "If you ever touch her again, Augustus, I will take measures into my own hands. I will be forced to punish you and I don't want to do that."