"We have to get him back" A voice hissed.
We will. We have to.
"Do you know why I'm doing this?" Unsure whether the question was rhetorical or not, he shook his head, instinctively leaning into the hand placed on his cheek. "No? Mattie, you should be intelligent enough to figure it out. Recite for me rule number 56..." The response came automatically, having been drilled into him.
"Your word is law."
"And 57?"
"As your word is law, it is the truth."
"So why would you ask me if I kill people? I've already told you I am a good ruler. Good rulers don't kill, do they?"
"Um... W-well..."
"Don't stutter."
"Sorry. Well, Jill told me she had a secret, so I wanted to know, but then she said that you killed people, and of course I didn't believe her, you told me you didn't! But... she made me promise not to tell, and I betrayed her, though there's no way I'd ever, ever lie to you!" He teared up at the thought that his big brother didn't believe him. "So I asked... I knew the answer, but I asked..."
"Mattie, what is 98?" Tears fell from Matthew's face as he spoke.
"Anything a stranger says is to be disregarded unless I have explicit permission to listen to them from you..."
"And here I thought you were the perfect student Mattie."
"I-I'm sorry! I won't do it again, I swear!"
"Too late Matthew. I trusted you, and you took advantage of my trust in you." Those words hurt. Matthew, not Mattie. Alfred was disappointed in him... Alfred was mad at him.
His bottom lip started trembling,.
"So you'll, I'm saddened to say, have to be punished. Disobedient boys like you get disciplined. And we're going to do that in the special way we always do. Do you know what it means to be cleansed Matthew?"
"Y-yes... it means to get rid of unpleasant things." His hands started shaking. He was scared. Scared, as if he knows what's going to happen. Alfred's wicked smile didn't help him out much either. He was... intimidating.
"Good. We're going to rid you of all those unwanted things. And then, I'm going to reteach you all the rules."