The king that had once been so welcoming to me, was now ordering the guards to take me into the dungeons. Victor and Kain both tried to fight the guards off but there were too many of them and I was pulled and locked into one of the cold cells. I could see the bones of past prisoners near the corner of the cell. I began to tremble, rats brushing against my feet. “Victor? Kain?” I exclaimed, frightened.
I was left alone in the cell for what seemed like forever until Victor was finally allowed into the dungeons. He didn’t have the key to the cell or the necessary tools to get me out. Following him, was the leader of the fourth clan, the man that was supposed to kill me. My trembling grew worse. Kain followed close behind, and he was the first to approach me.
“Victor has challenged Marcus to a duel,” Kain explained calmly, although I was curious as to why he wasn’t the one fighting for me, “If Victor wins, you live-”
“-and if he loses?” I asked in horror, but Kain gave me a knowing glance, although he stayed at my side.
Victor didn’t look at me once as he prepared to battle Marcus, the leader of the fourth clan. I was afraid. Afraid that I would lose one of my newest, yet oldest friends. Victor had been my friend just as long as Kain had, only I hadn’t noticed. Victor had been there to leave me little thoughtful gifts when I was younger, to clear any stray branch from my path that I might later stumble on, and even now, to save my life.
“Victor, don’t do this!” I exclaimed, afraid what would happen if Victor went on with the duel. I would gladly die in his place, if it meant that I would end the conflict that was tearing this dysfunctional family apart.
Victor shook his head, he wasn’t going to listen to me. He was in this until the end, I could tell by the way he tightened his empty fist, his other hand fastened on his sword. My heart swelled, suddenly aware that a man I barely knew was prepared to fight to the death for me. Not even Kain, the boy that had welcomed me all of this time at the castle, was prepared to sacrifice himself. In fact, he looked content watching the battle rather than entering it.
A bell rang from somewhere overhead and the two men sprung to life, slashing and jabbing in a series that was too fast for me to even comprehend. Marcus thrust his sword towards Victor, who narrowly dodged the deathly blow, swinging his sword around to land a sickly blow on Marcus' back. Marcus let out a growl as he recovered from the blow, returning to a protective stance. He had a vicious glow in his eyes, and I knew he would make Victor pay for injuring him. Rapidly, Marcus slashed at Victor, who jumped back, avoiding blow after blow.
That was, until he was finally cornered against the wall, like a mouse by a cat. In the dim lighting of the room, Marcus looked almost otherwordly. His pleasure was unable to be missed as he rose his sword, deciding which area he would plunge it into. Would he go for the arm, and allow Victor to suffer a slow, painful death? Or would he go for the chest, make it a swift, timeless death, and move to me for his next kill?
"Kain, do something!" I cried to Kain, accidentally distracting Marcus.
The blow Marcus had planned for Victor's heart had softened, leaving nothing more than a few cuts along his chest. The momentary victory gave Victor a change to rebel, pushing Marcus away from him and landing a solid blow against his back once more. In agonizing pain, Marcus turned around to stop Victor, but instead was welcomed by the blow that would kill him. Victor's sword smashed into Marcus' chest and within a few seconds, the light drained from his body and he fell to the floor.
Panting, Victor ordered one of the guards to release me from captivity, and the metal gates slammed open. I ran immediately towards Victor, who had collapsed on the ground next to Marcus. His chest was covered in blood, that was continuing to gush from his wounds. Kain fetched Dr. Johnson immediately, who's eyes opened wide at the sight of the dead clan leader and Victor. I was asked to remove Victor's shirt, and did so without flinching.
“I’ll be fine,” Victor murmured, his voice was rough but I knew he would recover. Dr. Johnson said that his injury only needed rest and that everything would be fine after. However, Victor didn’t seem to want to rest, gazing around the room at the members of the fourth clan that had come to witness the fight, as well as Kain. Victor stood up weakly, carefully choosing his words and proposing them to the fourth clan. “I don’t know about all of you, but I am tired of being constantly attacked by the King. He doesn’t want peace, he thrives on war and violence. Join me, and we can overrule King Richard III and make Pylane a place of peace!”
All of clan four agreed with Victor, the King had always treated the clans poorly and would be more than eager to overrule him. They followed after him as he limped up from the stairs of the dungeon. Kain followed slowly, although I had a feeling he was only following to make sure that they didn’t kill his father. They simply had to force him to resign, and that they certainly would.
"Kain, why didn't you help Victor?" I asked him, accusingly. His brother had almost died, and he'd not made a move to help him.
"Why does it matter to you, Isa?" Kain asked, bitterly, "he's not my brother."
I could sense the resentment, and didn't have to ask anything else. Kain really hated Victor, for whatever reason. Even now, after I'd been saved from death, he was in a sour mood. Was he jealous of his brother? Of all the attention he was getting.
Sighing, Kain pulled me aside, allowing the others to continue up the stairs to the King. "Isa, I've known you since we were kids. I know when you're happy, and I know when you're sad," Kain explained, "I can read you like a book," Kain added, "and I know a love story when I see one."
What did Kain mean? Did he think I was in love with Victor? At first, the thought was obsurd. Then, I recounted all of the things Victor had done for me. Even saving me from certain death. Maybe Kain was right.
"If it makes you happy, go to him," Kain explained, "I can't say that I won't be disappointed, but I will learn to forgive."
With a sad smile, I climbed the stairs to the King's throne room. The moment I entered, my eyes caught sight of Victor, pinned to the ground in the middle of the room by the king. None of the others were fighting, purely because duels were purely one to one battles. The crowd watched, on the edge of their seats, as the king raised his sword, seconds form plunging into the chest of Victor. I was about to scream, when someone shouted.
"Stop the duel!" The husky voice demanded. It was Kain.
The king looked up furiously, noticing his beloved son. "Son?" he asked, wondering what he was getting himself into.
Kain leaned to the left, speaking to one of the clan's men who immediately pulled Victor out of the battle and tossed Kain his sword. Kain glanced at me before stepping towards his father.
I reached Victor, pulling him to the back of the crowd to get examined by Dr. Johnson once more. He had plenty of cuts now, but nothing appeared to be fatal. "I want to fight!" Victor demanded, but I shook my head, giving him a careful hug.
"Let Kain take this one," I whispered into his ear as he was bandaged futher and we returned to our attention to the fight.
Kain's father gave Kain a heartbroken look, as if really cared about Kain. "What are you doing, Son?" the king asked.
"I'm standing up for the kingdom of Pylane," he began, "and I am prepared to fight to the death, as are all of the men behind me," Kain explained, gesturing to the skilled members of clan four. "You can either give up now, or face each and every one of us, individually."
The king gave a reluctant look before returning his vision to his feet. "You win, Kain," he replied, defeated. Slowly, he king removed his crown, which was by no means modest, and handed it over to Kain.
Taking the crown, Kain led it through the crowd carefully before finally placing it on Victor's head. "Pylane needs a peaceful ruler. Someone who won't satisfy himself with greed and violence. I propose that Victor be the new king. All in favor, say I," Kain offered.
The crowd burst in an exclamation of I's, and Victor's face lit up embarrassed. He'd never plannedon becoming king, but would gladly take the opportunity.
“Isabelle Angelica Richardson, will you be my queen?”
The sentence caught me off guard as I gazed over the crowd that was watching me intently. Even Kain was willing me to say yes. Me? Queen?
“If nothing else, I could use a right hand lady.”
That, I was overjoyed to accept. I would rule by his side as best I could. Heck, maybe we could even create a peace treaty or two with Argane and stop the war that had gone on for centuries.
Now, it seemed that it was Kain’s turn to be jealous.
It wasn’t that I was choosing Victor over Kain. In fact, I hadn’t even known that I had to choose! Love was a silly thing, especially with no memories to base it on. Either one of the boys could be lying about the friendship we’d had and I wouldn’t know, not yet at least.
Although, I felt that with this new revelation in the kingdom of Pylane, I would soon have my own revelation.