Maxi vs. The Duke

The Legacy of a Duke

AUTHOR'S NOTE
*Thank you for your patience with this update. Due to an injury at work (I'm okay now) as well as multiple visit from friends and family from out of town, I got behind. I hope you enjoy.

The Duke had never given much thought to how he would die. He would have laughed at the thought of his entire legacy being destroyed by a bastard knight and a pathetic mage.

But the Duke made a terrible mistake believing his castle would be capable of sheltering him from the wrath of his worthless daughter and barbaric son-in-law.

Remarkably his own army, even his own guards, had turned against him. His daughter manipulated them into believing that he had treated them poorly, crushing them financially with arduous taxes and other outrageous demands.

Ungrateful fools.

He was confined, for nearly two days, to the very room he had placed his eldest daughter when she had been exceptionally negligent of her weekly recitings. He supposed the couple who had somehow over taken his estate thought holding him in this place was justified, even poetic.

He didn't bother looking in the direction of the visitors who had entered his quarters. They were beneath him of course.

When he finally glanced in their direction he was of all things, surprised. He saw a lovely redheaded woman standing next to her large brutish husband. She stood beside him as though she were his equal, not behind him cowering in fear. The woman carried herself proudly with beautiful confidence and poise. Where was the shy, meek girl he had raised?

"You never gave a damn about all the things you were supposed to care about." Maxi hissed furiously. "Your family. Your people. No, you were only obsessed with your perfect legacy, having your name alongside those of great success in our history books."

"So my legacy ends with my death?" the Duke goaded. There was no fear in his eyes, he had lived a long, successful life and did not mind death. At least one of his daughters would be his prize, his crown jewel, a proper queen.

"Death is too easy, too merciful for someone such as you who has inflicted so much pain upon the world." Riftan said. "Pain is temporary, but destroying everything you actually care about piece by piece until there's nothing left of you and your house, will break you. Your land and your wealth will be divided amongst the people whom you have oppressed for decades. And as for your legacy..."

Maxi took half a step forward but the Duke merely scowled at her.

"My sister did not become a queen because you bartered her off like prized cattle to the royal family." Maximilian said. "Truthfully the crowned prince wouldn't have given her or anyone the time of day even if you had put her on display as you did. She is cunning, wise, and beautiful. She caught the eye of our future king all on her own. She will be a wonderful mother and will show a kindness to her children that you never provided either of us."

"At least I can be proud to call her my daughter. But what of you then?" the Duke asked. "What worthless life have you led? Galavanting off to war. Foolish. Stupid. And now childless."

The Duke witnessed Lord Calypse take a daunting step towards him, eyes blazing with wild rage. His son-in-law appeared as though he wanted nothing more in that moment than to strangle the man but Maxi stepped between them. She clenched her fists tightly as she shook with rage. With great restraint, she slowly willed herself to calm down. As much as she wanted to strike the Duke for his harsh words, she swore she would never stoop so low as her father did, to silence someone with force or violence.

"Don't you dare speak of my child with such venomous tenacity!" Maxi spat viciously. "I made something of myself with the support of my friends and my new family. I have healed countless souls, defended my comrades, and stood my ground against impossible odds."

Maxi stepped forward once more, now standing toe to toe with the horrid man before her.

"Which is more than you ever accomplished as you forced my husband to fight your war for you." Maxi sneered with disgust. "You have hidden behind men and women greater than you will ever be and yet you consider them all beneath you. The history books will remember me as the daughter of a princess of the Roem empire and my sister, a descendant of that once great house. You, however, will have no mention as a part of our heritage or legacy. To the world, once you are gone, you will be no one, just as you were to us."

The Duke stiffened as the realization of her words washed over him. He had no sons to pass his lands too, no great deeds to tell of. All he truly had was his legacy, raising two useless daughters to the highest levels of society, a wealthy lady and a queen. And now...now the very thing he lived for, his pride in himself, was being ripped away from him. 

"You would rewrite history?!" the Duke fumed. "It would be a falsehood, blasphemy!"

"We're not rewriting history Lord Croix," Maxi said, truthfully no longer comfortable addressing him as her father. "We're correcting it. You stated so many times over the years that you were ashamed that my sister and I would be your legacy and now you will be free to be just that, not even a footnote in all that Rosetta and I have done."

The Duke simply stood there gaping, utterly stunned by the confident, fierce woman before him. This was not the pitiful child he had raised. She was poised, proud, and if the rumors were true, possibly dangerous.

"Worthless child. Ungrateful wench." he muttered insults at her as the reality of his circumstances began to settle in his bones. The room felt smaller, more stifling than it had been before.

"No matter how far you run Maximilian, no matter how hard you try to bury me, as underserved and pathetic as you are, I will always be a part of you." he sneered with a sickening glee. He spoke quietly so only she could hear as not to further invoke the rage of the Commander who was clearly still on edge, standing stiff a few paces back.

Lady Calypse didn't allow the pain of his insults to show on her face. The Duke's daughter stood tall as she stepped away from him with only disappointment and disgust in her eyes. Her husband left first and she followed closely behind him. Before closing and locking the door she left the pitiful old man with the following words:

"The rest of the world will remember you for what you truly were to your family and to your people: Nothing."