Discovering Feros was already in the agreed meeting room prior to my arrival boiled my blood. I knew it wasn’t just a simple matter that he had gotten there first, there was never an innocent or accidental reason that creature did anything. If I was not already certain that he had never intended for me to actually have my revenge, I would have felt betrayed.

“Feros,” I growled.

“Ah, there is my dear queen now,” the fiend said with his damnable smirk, “I was just getting to know your brother here a bit better.”

I rolled my eyes and cast a glance at the bastard, he was wide-eyed and looking a bit pale. If he did indeed possess the power of the Yser bloodline, then it was likely that the creature’s presence disturbed him. Perhaps he wasn’t a completely empty headed idiot if he also felt the discomfort or at least his instinct for self-preservation was still intact.

“I’m sure, you always seem to be a step ahead of me these days.”

His grin widened and a squeal of a laugh escaped between his teeth. “Toria, you are being short-sighted again, you know that I have always been several steps ahead. I cannot help it, it’s just a function of my nature.”

A sound I couldn’t quite place escaped from Mistra as she came in the door behind me. If I had to guess it was something between a sigh and a laugh. Feros cast her a mischievous glance before making his features nothing more than his fake, cheery mask once more. My own lips curled into a frown as the idea once again blossomed in my mind that the two of them had a secret between them. I was aware that they already had more history and discussions without me, but there was something that they were quite obviously keeping from me, intentionally or by omission. As soon as this ridiculous matter of the throne being handed over was complete I would demand to know what exactly it was. I was not foolish enough to think I had to worry about anything romantically between the two of them and I trusted that Mistra would not be planning anything nefarious against me, but I still did not like the idea of anyone so close to me withholding information.

“Regardless,” the fiend continued, “I just wanted to get a jump on acquainting myself with your brother. Knowing who you are negotiating with a bit better always helps you come up with agreeable terms a bit faster.”

“Hmmph,” I snorted and took a seat on one of the couches in the study. I couldn’t help but notice the usurper had taken what should have been my place at the grand desk. “Let’s get this over with then.”

Mistra settled in next to me, gently pressing her hip to mine, it was her unspoken message to me that she was there if I needed her. I was incredibly grateful that she had agreed to come along on this trip, I at least had one person I knew who had my goals and interests at heart.

“I think we can come to some mutual agreement that will benefit everyone,” Feros said cheerfully. He moved to stand between the desk and the couch, looking like some deranged mediator.

“Mutual agreement? I don’t think there has to be anything mutual about it,” I said. “I hold all the cards, I could just stand right now and finish the little bastard off. I’m only not out of the idea that you might somehow know a good reason not to that you are irritatingly not telling me outright because you probably think it’s funny to see me flounder trying to figure it out instead.”

The fiend’s eyes lit up in glee at my assessment. “There is that Yser wit in action! There are plenty of reasons why killing off your brother would be a less desirable outcome than finding an arrangement that keeps him alive, but let’s hear from him why he thinks it should be.”

The fiend turned to the stunned usurper, the boy’s face looked mystified that he was being put on the spot to give the reasons for the stay against his execution. If I had to guess, the fiend had been talking to him and neglected to mention that he would be going down this route of negotiation. At least I wasn’t the only one he talked in vagaries and half-truths to.

“I…” The usurper paused, grimaced with nerves, glanced towards me uneasily, then took a deep breath and swallowed before speaking again. “I suppose the biggest reason I can think of is that I am no threat to you, I have no reason to quarrel with you. In fact, I have always wanted a sibling or at least some kind of family.”

“Family,” I repeated in a mocking tone.

“That is not going to get you much of anywhere with your sister,” Feros said with a short laugh.

“It’s the truth though,” he insisted. By his tone it seemed like he was being sincere which made him look all the more pathetic.

“That is exactly why you should have been eliminated the first chance I got. I should have dropped you into the fire in the hearth when you were a baby and saved myself all this trouble. It should be me on that throne and everyone knows it deep down, you were not meant to be born.”

His eyes widened slightly and he nodded his head, looking away like if he continued to look at me he might actually shed a tear. Surely this was not news to him and he had known all along that I despised his mere existence. How could I not hate the person who ruined my ascension to ruling the kingdom?

“I don’t think he grew up knowing about you,” Feros said in a gentle tone that was at complete odds with the look of delight on his face. He was really reveling in his self-imposed position of mediator. “This is probably all new news for him.”

“Did not know about me?” I asked in shock and anger.

My bastard brother nodded his head slightly, eyes trained on the fireplace on the wall opposite him. “It’s true, I didn’t know you existed at all. I barely had any idea that mother even had much of a family. I had always assumed that they had died long ago. Why else would they never visit or ever see me?”

I clamped my jaw shut tightly like I was trying to hold in the anger from spilling out of my mouth like a waterfall. How dare they not talk about me! They betrayed their first born, let them leave to be raised elsewhere, then just thought to never mention her again?! The rage flowing through me was almost too much to bear without letting out a scream to relieve some of the pressure. I had thoroughly hated my family before, especially my mother, but this fully cemented that not only had I been right to let her walk away to die, but I should have actually saved her and then tortured her to death by my own hands to watch her suffer. That bitch tried to erase me from existence in this kingdom, like some kind of horrid disease no one wants to name for fear it might draw it back.

“I’m sorry,” he said pathetically.

I couldn’t explain why at the moment, but his apology drew the strangled cry of anger from my lips. I stood and rushed up on him and raised my fist to strike him. It made no logical sense, I could have struck him down with my magic without having to lift a finger, but I wanted him to feel my physical anger, the manifestation of every bit of frustration and anger I had ever felt for him. If I didn’t do it with my fists I would not be able to hold back from killing him outright like Feros seemed to be so set against.

It surprised me that the fiend did not actually step in to stop me when the first swing connected to the usurper’s face, splitting his lip and causing tears to explode from his eyes. Blow after blow rained down on my brother while angry cries escaped me in great wracking sobs. I couldn’t understand why I felt like crying and the fact I was made me all the more angry. This was not how it was supposed to have gone, he was supposed to be nothing more than a pile of ash at my feet with everyone in the kingdom trembling at my return. The fact that my family had attempted to erase me to the point where my own brother had no idea he had even replaced anyone had broken any last strings of love or affection I might have felt for this branch of my family line. They all had abandoned and betrayed me, tried to delete me from my rightful place in history and unfortunately the main culprits were already dead so I could not properly torture them as they deserve, a stand in would have to do. I swung and connected until my hands and arms grew bruised and sore and until my lungs acted from my angry cries. Mistra’s comforting hands slowed the last of my languid blows and guided me back to where I had been seated. I collapsed into the couch and covered my face with my hands, wincing at how swollen and painful they already were.

“Well then, that was quite a reaction.”

If I hadn't been too tired to rise again, I would have struck the fiend as well for the comment.

“Feros!” Mistra hissed. “You know exactly what to say to make things worse.”

“Worse? Quite the contrary, I think that is exactly what needed to happen. Nothing helps clear the air and mind between two parties than getting their physical aggression out.”

I hated to admit it, though the anger still boiled in my chest and new, terrible feelings of fresh betrayal bubbled inside as well, I felt a bit more steady now that I was exhausted. Not that I would ever admit that out loud and give him the satisfaction.

“What do you think, Florin?”

“I understand her anger,” he said flatly with a slight lisp that had not been there before.

My blows must have hurt his mouth in some way. The idea that I might have hurt him enough to leave lasting disfigurement made me feel marginally better.

“It was not fair for our parents to act like she never existed,” he continued.

I dropped my hands from my face, wiping the remaining moisture from my eyes as I did, then looked towards my bastard brother. His face was swollen on both sides where I had pummeled him, lip fully split and slowly dripping blood, and his arms were black and blue along his forearms where he had tried to fend off the majority of the blows. I hated to give him credit, but he had not tried to get up and run or fight back and instead somewhat accepted his punishment. That took a bit more bravery and nobility than I would have given him credit for.

“Is it fair that I lost my right to the throne?” I asked.

His eyes looked at me sadly and he sat silent for a moment, before shaking his head slightly, causing him to wince in pain. “I don’t know…” he sighed. “Maybe? I’m not sure. Before today I never really gave it much thought. Even when I did find out about you, you were already a queen elsewhere. Why would you even bother to want this kingdom when you had another?”

“Because it’s mine by right,” I snapped.

He flinched like I might rise to strike him again, but relaxed after it became apparent that I was not planning on it and gave a single nod of his head. “I can see why you would feel that way. I also have thought of revenge and payback for what our aunts have done to me. I imagine that I could easily become as angry and frustrated as you if I was given enough time to fester on the unfairness of the situation.”

“See, he’s agreeable enough,” Feros said in a tone far too chipper for the conversation we were having. “I think we are about to discover that the two of you have much more in common than you first thought. In the Yser family the apples don’t fall too far from the trees.”