The King of Albion looked upon the broken man sleeping before him. The man he had looked up to for years after his father passed. The man he had looked up to until the madness had set in. The King looked upon the sleeping form of the Crown Prince, the former King and his elder brother, as the storms raged outside with the sky black as coal and found, as he brushed back the hair from the man's face when he started to twitch, that he still did not mind this. It was nothing new to the King, he simply had thought that his brother had finally overcome it after years of refusing to let anyone near him after the madness took him. How wrong he had been to let his brother suffer alone, even when he forced him from his company. If only he had known back then what the former King dealt with daily. After all, Logan had always been afraid of the Dark.
He had never minded when they were little, before their parents' deaths, when his brother would be unable to sleep and would request that he sleep in the same room. Never once did he mind pretending to be afraid, he did it for his brother. His brother who was, even by their parents, expected to be above such trivial things. They were kind and just people, but he would rule a kingdom one day, so they expected him to worry about more pressing matters. So the younger Prince had pretended. The siblings had found a doorway between their rooms through the fireplaces, a thin stone panel that slid away. When the elder would wake gripped with fear he would rouse his little brother from his sleep and the younger would go to his brother's aid, leaving a lamp lit low to burn out on its own sometime during the night.
As they got older it became expected of the younger Prince to also put such petty fears aside. Neither brother knew when this happened. Most likely it occurred around the same time their parents and Jasper started scolding them for sleeping in the same bed. "What is acceptable for children is not always fine for young adults," they started being told. They were Royals. They had to start acting like adults early. After that the younger Prince was no longer allowed to crawl into bed with his elder brother in order to comfort him. Even as his elder brother became upset with this new knowledge, the young Prince did not let this deter him. He convinced Logan to have a plush sofa moved into his rooms. After that on those dark and stormy nights Logan's little brother, his guardian he had taken to thinking of him in his head, would settle on the sofa with a book to "read", still leaving the customary lamp lit. Their parents and the butler never questioned them about it, thinking it to be the siblings just spending time together before bed. Logan never really could tell his brother no, so they figured he would have just neglected to move the boy. Oh how wrong they were, but all the while the then Prince never minded. He would do anything for his big brother.
The Hero sighed as he recalled such memories. The last ones they had with their little Hero family intact. Oh how Logan might have turned out differently if their father had not died so suddenly. Perhaps he would have been better prepared for news of the Crawler. Perhaps he might not have still been afraid of the dark. 'In any case,' the young King mused as he placed a kiss on his brother's forehead, something he had done many times before Sparrow's passing, 'he certainly has reason to be afraid now.' This night was the first in five years that Logan had been able to fully relax into sleep. The King knew it would be a rough night.
At 17 Logan's father died. At 17 the Prince was crowned King. In public he put on a good face, then he retired to his chambers. Later that evening, after all was said and done, Logan collapsed onto his bed and wept. At 17 the newly crowned King cried unashamedly in front of his younger brother. His brother had shed his tears immediately. They did not expect a child his age to restrain his emotions well, and therefore he had not. However, his brother was an adult and a King. He had to be calm for his people. At 17 Logan cried himself to sleep over the death of his father, and his younger brother pulled the covers over him so that he would not catch cold. The new Crown Prince took the time to dim the lamps but not put them out. His presence was not requested, but he left the panel between the rooms open just a crack so he could open it in a hurry. By 10 the Prince could tell when his brother was going to have a bad night. By 10 he could tell when Logan would wake in the middle of the night. As always, the Prince never minded.
It was much different this night, on the eve of sir Walter's funeral, the King noted when his brother shot upright in bed screaming, having woken in a cold sweat. The King was startled a bit, because he hadn't been affected by the Crawler the same way Logan and Walter had. So instead of trying to understand, he simply shifted from the chair he had been seated in to the bed next to his brother. In a way, it was just like old times as Logan held onto his younger brother like he was the only thing keeping his sanity in tact. In a way, the young King was. But he didn't mind.
Didn't mind as his hand went numb from lack of circulation. Didn't mind as his silk shirt was ruined by his elder brother's sweat and tears. Didn't mind once again having to take on the role of a parent for someone seven years his senior. He didn't mind because he had seen first hand what the Crawler was capable of and had experienced its torments. Not as extremely, of course. He didn't mind because he had seen for himself what the darkness held, and was not afraid while Logan always had been. People called the King brave, however the Hero thought he might be a little bit insane. He had seen all these things and was not afraid. His brother had willingly ventured into that same cave to help strangers, despite a crippling fear of the dark. No, he decided, Logan was the brave one.
"Logan!" The Crown Prince begged, sitting on the ground, having been disarmed by his brother in a sword match,"Please! I have a bad feeling about this trip." His brother simply looked at him. "It isn't fair that I have to stay here!" "None of your enemies will play fair, brother. Out there I cannot protect you, and you cannot even protect yourself. You will be a liability, nothing more!" His brother had snapped desperately at him. But the then 15 year old had minded being called a liability. He knew that the 21 year old was just trying to protect him, to keep him alive. However, he didn't care. This time, he argued. He could not say this time that he didn't mind. He didn't want his brother to leave. They were all the family each other had left, and his brother minded leaving the King alone to face the dark nights. Something bad was sure to happen, he could feel it. However, he knew his brother was right. He would get them both killed. He wasn't ready. For the first time in his life, the younger brother minded the dark.
When Logan returned months later, something was different about him. His haggard appearance, the dark circles under his eyes, the Prince knew something was wrong. 'Perhaps he just hasn't slept well because of the darkness of the ship at night', the Prince thought hopefully. How he was wrong. When Logan retired that night the moon shone brightly, yet he still left the lamps lit. The young Prince could see the light reflected onto the lawn and thought this odd. Little changes began occurring here and there, mostly in Logan himself. He slowly became more temperamental and often seemed jumpy and nervous. On the night of the new moon he sat upright in bed, having woken with a start. He had asked his younger brother to lay with him this night. It was the first extremely dark night since his return from Aurora, and who was going to tell the King no? So it came as quite a shock to the younger brother when he was unceremoniously dumped onto the floor. "Get out!" Came the panicked yell, "I'll not have you trying to take the throne!" The sleepy Prince rubbed his eyes, "What are you on about Logan? All I want is to sleep." "Get out! You're trying to kill me in my sleep!" The Prince looked at him as if he'd grown a second head, "Fine. Whatever. Have it your way, Your Majesty." The Prince didn't think twice about what he said to his brother. He was too tired and Logan must have just had a bad dream. He didn't mind though, Logan had been away for a while. He didn't know what his brother was going through. He didn't mind, because he didn't know this would be the last time his brother even slept in the room next to his.
The next morning Logan had all his things moved into the King's old chambers. Only the servants had been in here since his death. Once a month they came to air out the rooms and clean out any dust and cobwebs that might have gathered. This, however, the Prince did mind. After his brother moved into their father's rooms, the Prince had had the passage between Logan's old room and his sealed. He minded the accusations and the fits of temper his brother went through. The Crown Prince felt he could no longer trust his elder brother and so he sealed the secret door for fear his brother might do something crazy. Indeed, that first night after he sealed the doorway, after he locked his bedroom door and pushed a table in front of it on instinct, after leaving a lamp lit with enough oil to last the entire night, he heard someone on the other side of the fireplace. What sounded suspiciously like the scratching of someone looking for a release to open the secret door. For the second time in his life, the young Hero minded the dark.
The King observed his elder brother for a few moments longer. The man had already fallen back into a fitful sleep. The young man sighed softly. He was 18 now. A year had passed since he had taken the throne from his brother. Just like Logan, he had assumed the throne at 17. It seemed like everything happened in their family at 17. If he remembered correctly, his father had also discovered that he was a Hero at 17, though it took quite a bit longer to defeat Lucian and the Spire. Oh how that tale was legendary! What would Sparrow think if he saw his sons today? Would he be proud of both of them? Or would he be angry at what Logan had become? "No." The young Hero King said to himself. Logan was not a Hero. He did not have any of his or his parents' abilities. Logan looked so different from the King or their Father. Perhaps, mused the 18 year old, perhaps my brother is only my half brother? He laughed softly at the thought and dismissed it. Their mother had been raised by monks. That simply was not allowed. No, most likely Logan took after a grandparent or someone else in the family. He had only heard stories about their Mother's adopted father. No one knew of her real parents.
The King lay down next to his brother. He needed to sleep. Logan seemed to relax having his brother near him. He did not think their father would have minded this. Not this time. Not after what they had both been through at the hands of the Crawler. As the Hero started to doze, his brother whimpered softly in his sleep. He rested a hand on Logan's and spoke softly, "Relax Logan, it's gone now." He let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, "Never mind the Dark, dear brother."
No sooner had he said this, than he heard a distinct voice speak,
HEHEHEH, THAT IS WHAT YOU THINK, LITTLE HERO.
Logan shot straight upright, looking around wildly. The Hero even sat up, startled. He looked at his elder brother and realized, the Crawler may have been banished, but he was not truly gone. He would be back, this the brothers knew.
For the first time in his life, the Hero of Brightwall was actually Afraid of the Dark.