My brother has always been a strange creature. Since the day of his birth, my mother has been fascinated and disgusted with him. For the first three years of his life, we waited for him to die. My mother gave him to a chambermaid and informed her to take care of him until his death. She was to inform us of the event. She never came.
The day did come though when he was brought back to our attention. It was on one of few occasions that my father had occupanied my mother and I on a walk. He fell into a trap that none of us had spotted. It took several strongmen and his council many hours before they were able to get him out without seriously injuring him. My father was furious and wanted everyone in the palace immediately brought to him for questioning. No one knew anything or so we thought. It wasn't until a young maid was brought to his attention that we learned that Erik had gone missing, and no one knew where he was at. None of us knew who this Erik was. We would soon learn that the corpse that had been handed over to her mother for care by my mother had been given the name of Erik.
It wasn't until my father's council started to debate over the dynamics of the trap that we heard a laugh coming from the walls and then nothing. A few hours later the young maid came walking down the hall, holding a Erik's hand. I'd have to say in my young mind of ten that Erik's outfit was the most ridiculous and terrifying thing that I had ever seen. Not an inch of skin was showing. He was covered from head to toe in black and not an inch of skin was showing. A black cape hung from his shoulders. A mask covered his face. Even in my young mind, I thought that he was a small death come to take us all and was terribly freightened. My mother, however, was intrigued with his invention, and soon, my parents were coming up with ways that he could be useful to them. Before they dismissed him, my father requested that he removed his mask. Thirty years later and I am still not able to make up my mind as to which was worse the death mask or his actual face.
Despite his hideous looks, this was the beginning of Erik's life with our family. He was always hidden away from public view. When he grew to the age of a young man, my mother started showing him off as her prized executioner but never as her son. Erik didn't seem to mind this in the least. As long as he was le\ft alone for the most part, Erik was content. He was soon a jack of all trades. When my mother wanted something, Erik was the first person that she would seek council from. When she would go into a terrible tantrum, Erik would be sent for to calm her down with a new trick. My mother was furious the day that Erik decided to leave us. His little nightingale fascinates my mother to no end though. Any time that it is known that she is going to publicly perform my mother buys tickets and drops everything.
My mother has no doubt in my brother's abilities. She says that his music has the ability to condem one to hell or give them the blessings of Allah himself. Seeing how my brother believes in no such deity, I don't see how this is possible, but still my mother refers to them as her devil and angel that she has been blessed with. My mother believes that we belong to her since she gave us life and anything that we own is hers. Therefore, my brother's wife is hers.
As I said, my mother believes that Erik can do all things. There is nothing that can escape his grasp. It has been two years since my brother got married, and it has been that long since I have seen him. But now, I am being forced to order a crew to go retrieve my brother. No one denies my mother of what she wants and that includes me. If she believes that Erik holds the keys to life and death, then so be he does or he will.
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A/N: This is a sequel to Deal of a Lifetime. However, I am fully warning you ahead of time that updates will happen very rarely as I have many things that I am trying to prepare for with school. Please review and let me know your opinion.