While I really would love to write about the Nohrian mess with all the siblings and concubines, I don't feel I could do it justice. I did consider writing a collection, so I don't know truly if this will be a oneshot or a collection just yet.
How long had it been? Everything had happened so fast, and yet now that the young Nohrian prince was sequestered in a private room, it felt as thought time had slowed. That it had been days since his brother died at his hand. A drop of blood, not his, fell from his shaking fingers and landed on the thick carpet below him. The entire castle knew what was going on with King Garon's concubines. It was not even considered an open secret.
It was just that the king, perhaps unwilling to believe that all of the chaos inside the castle was his doing, turned a blind eye to it.
But now his eldest and heir, Prince Xander, sat waiting his judgement. He knew his brother's mother had to be the one who demanded he face the king. No other woman had done so. But Aislin - was it even Aislin there were so many - was the sort of woman who took any affront to her and escalated it. Though the death of her only son, Merrick, was no small insult.
Though he and his father were close, and had become closer once the king started to groom his son to rule, Xander had always been a bit afraid of him. Along with the shaking of his fingers, his chest ached the more he waited. Both from fear and the attempt on his life earlier. He brushed a strand of hair from his face, careful not to leave blood streaks across his forehead.
After what felt like hours, he could hear at the very least Merrick's mother approach. There was no doubt that Garon was with her, or at the very least someone else. She was shrieking and wailing, but her words were unclear to him through the thick stone walls.
As the door opened, he looked up, then immediately looked back down at his lap and curled his fingers together. It was Aislin and his father. But behind Garon was an even more unwelcome sight, Iago. He leaned around King Garon, no doubt studying the young princeling. Before anyone else could speak, Aislin began to wail and stamp her foot like a child.
"You see? You see?!" She pointed to Xander. "He is covered with my son's - our son's - blood!" She gripped Garon's cloak tightly and began to beg. "You cannot allow him to get away with it! You cannot!"
Had Xander been looking up, he would have seen Iago roll his eyes at the woman's theatrics.
He would have also seen Garon shrug his way out of Aislin's grasp. He walked to the chair and knelt down next to Xander. "Look at me," he commanded. Xander did as he was told. He tried to not show any emotion but found himself biting his lip to keep it from trembling. "Did you kill your brother?"
"Y - yes, Father."
"He doesn't even lie! Garon, you must do something!"
Garon turned angrily towards Aislin. "One more outburst and I will have Iago escort you to your chambers." He turned his attention back to Xander. He wanted his son's side of the story, as he could not get Merrick's, and he wanted no interruptions. "Why?"
"It was self defense." His voice was barely over a whisper. Aislin took a step forward. Iago quickly grasped her arm to stop her from going further.
"Tell me what happened."
Xander met his father's eye then tried to look away. Firmly, but somewhat gently, Garon forced him to look at him. "I was going to my room to change after training. Merrick was not training, but I did not think anything of it. I crossed paths with him in the hall near my room." Xander swallowed and wondered if he should mention that he felt Merrick had been in his room. He had not been allowed inside since the incident, and he felt even if he had been, he could not prove it. Though others had mentioned before that things had gone missing from their rooms as well.
"He asked where I was going," Xander continued. "I told him I needed to change my clothing, I would be in my room. I continued past him, but he grabbed my arm." He looked down at his arm and wondered if Merrick's grip had left a bruise. "I tried to push him off me, but he had a dagger. We fought over it. He... said if I were out of the way, it would bring him and his mother closer to the throne."
"Did he truly say that, Prince Xander?" Iago's grip on Aislin, who was ready to lash out and defend her child, was vice-like.
Xander could only nod. He could still feel Merrick's breath against his face as they struggled. It was not the only thing he had said, not the only threat he had made, but it was the only one that mattered.
"And you got the dagger from him?"
"...Yes. After a struggle." He held out his arms and pushed his sleeves up. There were deep fingernail scratches down his arms. Garon seized Xander by the wrist and examined his scratches.
"Those could have been self defense on Merrick's part," Iago pointed out.
While Xander knew he had a point, he shook his head in protest. "Father," he whispered, "I would never harm my siblings unless I had just cause. Merrick attacked me and I defended myself. I did not want to kill him, but he was going to kill me."
"You say that, but you're the one coated in blood!"
For the first time, Xander met the gaze of Merrick's mother. He looked from her to his father and back again. He fumbled for a moment at the buttons on his vest. "It is not just his blood," he admitted. Once he removed his vest, he unbuttoned his shirt as well. He pulled it open and showed his father a long gash across his chest. A little bit of blood still trickled down his stomach.
For several long, strained seconds no one spoke. Slowly, Garon nodded, which was all Aislin needed. She flew into a rage, howling with anger. Before she could reach Garon or Xander, Iago had grabbed her by the arms and pinned her to the floor. Garon's face showed no emotion, but his voice was not unkind.
"Go to the infirmary, have that looked at."
"Yes, Father."
It was his way of dismissing Xander. He left, carefully stepping over Aislin as he did. He knew nothing would come of her fit; Garon would brush it off as grief. He stared at the floor as he began the trip to the infirmary. He was amazed that he had not received any sort of punishment. It felt like one was due.
I guess killing my own flesh and blood, even in self defense, is punishment enough.
The sound of heels on the floor shook him from his thoughts. He might have felt drained, but his body was still on the defensive. He tensed and readied himself for a fight, but that was not what his younger brother sought.
Though his mother had time and again demanded he stay away from the crown prince, Prince Leo felt a bond with his older brother. He skidded to a stop in front of Xander, his cheeks flushed. Even though the day had exhausted him, Xander had to laugh, and not just because Leo's shirt was on backwards.
"You were eavesdropping."
"Yes," Leo admitted. He would not deny it. "I wanted to be sure... are you hurt?"
Xander looked down at his chest. He had not buttoned his shirt back up. "Not badly," he said. "Don't worry yourself." He fought the urge to muss Leo's hair. "You should leave before Father finds out you were listening."
Instead of leaving the way he had come, Leo fell into step with his brother. He had to walk quickly to keep up, but he would go with Xander to the infirmary. He knew Xander was in no mood to see him to his own room. "Xander," he asked softly, "what will happen to Aislin?"
Xander sighed. He knew what would happen, and he had the feeling even Leo knew. One of the other women would find her useless and have her removed. Or Aislin would take her own life. It seemed once one of their father's many lovers lost her child or children, her life was forfeit. One or two had implored Garon to have another child with them, but had been murdered before they could succeed.
He gave Leo a safer answer. "I don't know."
Xander had planned to see Leo safely to his room once his wound had been healed. After what he had gone through with Merrick, it touched his heart that Leo stayed at his side. He found himself thinking a silent prayer of thanks that he had one sibling whose blood would never be on his hands.