My Slave King

11 : Stephen

"Alex is your brother?"

"His name is not Alex!" Cassius's voice boomed and Xena jumped. "It's Stephan!"

Cassius was angry with humans even more for changing his brother's identity. He will kill all of them.

Xena was quiet but then started walking.

"There." She pointed towards a small cottage - that was the moment Cassius was waiting for from the past hour and finally! - with a very inhumane speed, Cassius broke through the door only to find a fifteen-year-old boy eating and a woman cleaning the window sills.

Both freezing the instant the creature broke in.

The boy was nothing like the one Cassius knew but he knew it was him. It was Stephen!

He is alive! My brother is alive!

"Stephen?" Cassius called ever so politely and immediately pulled his brother in his arms. The boy was surprised.

If Xena was here and not panting in the forest while making her way here, she would be surprised at how gentle Cassius could be.

"Cassius?" He remembers him. He remembered him! Cassius was over the moon as he hugged him but then he noticed something. There were no wings.

"Where are your wings?" Cassius asked, ignoring the other woman completely who was already short of breath after looking at Cassius, and just then Xena tumbled through the door.

Stephen did not answer and only looked down.

"Stephen?" Cassius tried again. Stephen shook his head and that's when Cassius's anger flared once again and he stood up, in two seconds flat, he had the woman slammed into a wall.

"You have ruined him! You have made him human. What did you do!?" Cassius voice boomed and lady's eyes widened in extreme fear. Just like that, Cassius pulled his claws out, ready to rip her throat out when Stephen and Xena jumped in her defense.

"Cassius! No! She is my aunt!"

"Brother! You can't do that."

That struck a nerve and Cassius turned around in pure fury. His anger growing by the second.

"You are defending a low life human?! The one that killed our parents by stabbing them in the back and putting their crowns up in a form of entertainment!" Cassius asked Stephen baffled, ignoring Xena completely.

Stephen looked down. He knew his brother was right but he simply cannot let him kill the woman who actually protected him.

"Cassius - Brother, I will help you to get your rightful position but not her. She is the reason I am alive. Still walking and healthy and my wings are not gone, I just . . . cannot pull them out." Stephen explained but Cassius did not care.

Stephen had grown up so much.  Yes, he did want revenge from the people who killed their family and people but Cassius wanted revenge from the whole of humanity. And witches.

Even though Stephen was young at the time but he knew what happened that night. He knew what went on and he would never forgive them for that. He knew exactly who killed them.