"I had to do it." said Arthur, back at home with Alfred in the small but growing New England settlement. "It was necessary. They threatened us. No was no way to avoid it if we're to have any sort of successful future together. Alfred, would you just look at me."
Alfred reluctantly turned from the only window in the cabin, new, angry tears welling up in his eyes as he faced his adoptive brother.
"You killed them, Arthur," he said, softly but bitterly. "All of them. They trusted you, and you murdered them."
Arthur clenched his jaw. "It's not murder, it's war," he said stiffly. "There's a big difference."
"What's the difference? They're both horrible things that shouldn't exist!"
"Now you be silent in the presence of your betters!" Arthur stood up suddenly, startling his brother into silence. "How would you know about the proper way to do warfare? Just because you seem to have a strange affection for those ignorant savages–" he pronounced the word as if it left a foul taste in his mouth–"doesn't mean that you can let it jeopardize my–our future!"
"But you–"
"You are too young, too naïve to be telling me what I should be doing! What do you know of war, of undying loyalty to a God, a cause and a crown? Do you think I do this for pleasure? I've been fighting wars ever since I was your age: some brief like this one, and some that have lasted for a century or more. It's the way the world is, Alfred, and you must learn to accept it."
"That's the way your world works! Well, maybe I don't want your world! Maybe I just want everything to stay the same as it was before you came and changed it all!" Alfred finished his retort, glaring defiantly up at Arthur before furiously heading for the door.
"Alfred! America! Stop this foolery and apologize! Alfred! Stop–" There was a loud, splintering crack as Alfred, in his rage, simply smashed through the wooden door of the cabin as he ran towards the woods.
"You little–Where do you think you're going?! Come back this bloody instant or I swear I'll–" He choked back a train of oaths and curses, realizing that the neighboring farmers were all staring at him.
After what seemed like a very long awkward pause, one of the farmers spoke up.
"So, uh, do you need help repairing your door, Mr. Kirkland?" He offered casually, as if he had not just seen an eight year-old boy storm through a solid wood door like a battering ram. Arthur smiled, and also tried to retain the illusion of normality.
"Yes, John, that would be very helpful."
As he and John worked at making a temporary makeshift covering to replace the broken door, he looked up from his work to see the neatly laid out farm plots of the village, leveled and plowed and encroaching upon the edges of the deep wilderness beyond. Not too long ago, Arthur thought, these orderly farms had once been part of that forest–just as untamed and new and frightening as what now lay west and beyond. Most of the land was still vast and seemingly endless in danger and mystery, but now it was less so, if only by a tiny bit. Alfred's words came back to him then. I don't want your world, he had said. I wish everything could just stay the same as it was before.
What a childish wish, thought Arthur. It was too late for turning back, even if he'd wanted to. What had happened last night would never be undone, and if anything, it was only the beginning of many more similar nights to follow. He sighed as John finished helping him put the makeshift door in place.
"That should do for now," said John cheerfully. "It should hold up, unless that lad of yours decides to make a run for it again. Where did he go to, anyway?"
Arthur shrugged. "He used to go off on his own a lot when we were younger, but it's been a while since I've seen him this upset. Never mind though–he can take care of himself, and he can come back and apologize once he's worked off his rage."
"Well, it's getting dark, and since he ran off like that into the woods...are you sure you're not worried about him?"
"He'll be fine." Arthur thanked John and got back into the cabin, where he sat in silence in front of the fireplace for a long time.
Just fine.