Alitia: Hellfire and Blizzard

XX: Distant Love

Markos had grown used to being alone. 

It was a strange thing to think about, but it was true regardless. Even before he married Dolores, he had gotten used to sitting with little aside from his own company. She had been an intense woman from the start, demanding the attention of the world, and he had gone along with it because he knew nothing else. In the realm of Etruna, the spouse to the ruler was expected to sit there and look appealing while doing little else. Markos had accepted his fate in that way, and he had done so with a smile. That was his duty, and he was more than happy to stand by it. 

Unfortunately, Dolores was far more domineering than he could have ever expected at a first glance. She would have done anything to maintain her grip over the people around her, and if that meant fighting for it, then she would do it. Markos had learned this quickly. Soon after they wed, she grew controlling in a way that he had not anticipated. Dolores was always the type to want things done in her way or not at all, and Markos had found that attractive about her at first. It was to be expected of a woman sitting on the throne of an entire planet. She handled everything with a smile that perhaps held a note of darkness, but no one ever dared to call her on it. After all, she was one of the most important and powerful people on Etruna. Who would ever want to question her on something like that?

Markos wished he had done more to argue with her now though. She had been confident enough in her skills to force him to fall under her thumb without much objection, and he had gone along with it because he knew nothing else. Dolores was a powerful woman, and Markos knew better than to fight it. If she began to isolate him from the people he cared about, then that was to be expected. If she hated it when he left the castle for too long even if it was just to visit family or friends, then that was simply how she was. Markos stopped putting up a fight years ago, and he had admittedly been relieved when Dolores wound up pregnant. He would finally be able to spend time with others who he had not been cut off from already. His children were not the greatest of company for his adult struggles, but he was willing to take whatever distraction he could find, and Helena and Carys were the best ways for him to ever take his mind off everything that bothered him. 

Markos loved the twins more than anything. For a while, they had been his reason for being. Even as he began to realize that his marriage to Dolores was a mistake, he knew he was right to be there because he would have them. He could never hope to abandon either one of his children. They needed him, and Markos was more than happy to do anything and everything for the sake of keeping them happy. He told himself he loved Dolores just so he would have a reason to stay there with his children. It didn't matter if he didn't believe in his constant whispered repetitions in the middle of the night. He would be fine as long as he was able to stay there with his daughters. 

But then they had started to grow up. Markos had heard many times that children started to grow up and get stronger long before the parents were ready, and he didn't think he had ever seen it clearer than the day that Dolores decided on her heir. It was always going to be Carys, and Markos had seen it coming. Even so, he did his best to support both of his children through the aftermath. He told himself again and again that he loved Dolores for the sake of keeping himself there. He needed to be a part of his daughters' lives, and he could only do that if he was willing to stay there with their mother. It was far from pretty, but it was what needed to be done, and Markos had learned years ago just how important utility was when it came to nobles and royals. 

Markos had never imagined that Dolores would go as far as she would with her favoritism. By the time Carys was just eight years old, Dolores had declared that Helena was damn near useless, and she didn't seem to care at all what happened to her older daughter. She had her heir, and that was all that mattered. Dolores didn't realize that she was perpetuating the cycle of bloodshed and turmoil that had plagued the royal family of Etruna for as long as it had existed. She only cared about the fact that she had found her perfect heir and would do anything to ensure she became the perfect queen she had always believed she could be. If Carys grew to resent her for it, then she would get over it with time. If Helena came to hate the world because she believed it hated her too, then Dolores would ignore her and ask that she stop whining.