After the princess left the sanctuary, Damien emerged from his hiding.
"Alright. We can rest in the wagon. Let's not waste any more time," he wiped a sweat from his forehead. "I want to talk to my father. Or brother."
Aviora yawned and perched on his shoulder. The savory nuts must have made her drowsy.
Without wasting time, he walked to the streets and called for a wagon.
It was not large or grand like the one he was used to, but it was enough. He doesn't need a golden wagon just to visit his home, does he?
He had brought some food also for the night since he doesn't want to step out of the wagon.
Aviora had shaken her head in disapproval of his laziness.
Since she was also feeling drowsy and sleepy, Aviora had stayed with him, snuggling close to him.
After four days, they saw the estate from afar. The large castle nuzzled inside greenery. It made him nostalgic. Like he missed it. Like he felt at home.
He could see people moving about the courtyard of the mansion as well as other buildings surrounding them. A few guards were walking around, too.
The wagon came stop at the castle gates where two guards stood steadily and readily.
Damien paid the driver and walked to the guards. He had his bear cloak donned so as not to spook the servants and maids.
At first, they didn't recognize him, but in a moment they exclaimed with surprise and kneeled before him.
"Welcome back, young master," both of the guards said in unison.
A small smile passed on his lips.
"I'm glad you recognized me," he said.
"Forgive us for our rudeness young lord! You've been gone so long we didn't recognize you at first."
They bowed again.
He regarded them for a moment, silent and all, like a noble looking at a peasant with all the arrogance in the world.
It made him feel like he was special.
The spear in the hands of the guards shivered as they understood the young master's eyes are boring at them.
After a moment Damien sighed.
"Are there any guests here? Is my father here?" He asked after a while.
One guard shook his head. "No, my lord," he said. "There are no guests. And the current acting duke is your elder brother, young master Daeron."
"I see." Damien scratched his chin like he was in deep thought.
"Perhaps, my lord haven't heard what happened?" The other guard asks.
"I did hear something from the folks. I'll talk with my brother then." He patted the soldiers on their shoulders and walked inside.
Aviora slowly floats in the air and takes in the details.
He could feel her excitement.
"Don't go too far," he warned her telepathically. She nodded in acknowledgment.
He made his way to the castle taking in the details and marveling at how beautiful the place was.
Was it always like this or was it also the author's character designing at play again? He thought as he entered through the main doors into an expansive hall that overlooked the courtyard.
People moved about. There seemed to be servants cleaning up tables, and serving tea to others. They looked busy yet relaxed.
Whenever someone's eyes meet his, they instantly froze in place and after a moment they all just fall to their knees and greeted him.
Some were wary of him but others, others he rescued from the fort of Maelys were happy to see him.
He looked around for anyone familiar but didn't see anyone.
Even Lily wasn't there. He imaged her expression seeing his return. Her running to him and hugging him.
"Young master, you returned. I'm so happy to see you." she would say. He would then swoop her from the floor and throw her into the bed before ravaging her. Ending his year and-half-long abstinence by fucking the shit out of her until neither of them could walk properly.
His imagination took over and he started laughing uncontrollably.
Maids and butlers looked at him strangely.
"How was your trip, my lord," one of the butlers asked. He was pushing a food cart toward him.
Damien smiled widely.
"Well...it was very eventful actually..." He answered. He pulled the steel plate off the top of the cart.
It was filled with fruits and vegetables, fish, and meat. All sorts of delicacies.
"Who's this for?" he asked pulling a grape and popping it in his mouth.
"To young master Daemon," the butler politely replied. He was having anxiety seeing the young master eating from a plate meant for the short tempered and arrogant young master Daemon.
Damien's eyes lit up hearing it. A mischievous smile passed on to his lips. "Is that so? He's here? I thought he would've left for the Four Kingdom borders already."
"He's set to leave two days later with young lady Daenys," the butler's eyes quivered seeing the young master's hands reaching for the plate.
He pushed himself away from the table, grabbed another plate, and began filling his stomach with delicious food.
Soon the plates emptied, leaving only crumbs behind.
"Ha, that was delicious. Sent him my regards okay," he patted the butler and left to see his brother.
...
When he arrived at his brother's chambers, he knocked lightly. Even after several knocks, no one answered, so he opened the door slightly, revealing a disheveled room with notes and pages spread across the room.
He pushed the door open, revealing a completely messed up.
Books lay everywhere. Some were torn apart, others were still bound together. Notes covered the walls, papers were scattered throughout the chamber.
He walked towards the table and suddenly jerked back. His body shuddered for a second, he took a deep breath and looked again.
There he saw a man lying face down on the floor in a pile of papers.
The red liquid spread on the papers where his head rested.
"Oh my god!" Damien yelped and ran forward. His cloak fell behind him.
He knelt next to the body.
Blood was seeping between his fingers, pooling underneath.
"Brother!" he shook the body. "Cameron, wake up." He flipped the body and held the head.
The sight in front of him made him shudder. On his lap lay Daeron, his cheeks were hollow, his eyes were sunken, his skin pale.
"Brother, open your eyes." he lightly slapped his cheeks.
Is he dead? What the fuck happened? Where is everyone?
Many questions raced through his mind.
Daeron coughed.
Damien gasped.
"What the hell did you do!?" he yelled at him.
Daeron stared at him blankly, his eyes unfocused.
"Ah, am I dead? You're here, brother. Did we both die?" His voice was hoarse and dry.
Damien dropped his hand from Daeron's face.
"No, I'm not dead. But you will if you're like this," Damien said, looking at the skeleton with a skin mask.
"Is that so? Good," he said, reaching out and touching Damien's cheeks.
It was cold and skeletal. The touch made him icky.
"What happened, brother," Damien asked helping him up and placing him on the chair. "Why are you like this?"
Daeron reached for the water skin at the table, slowly and shakily. Damien reached out and grabbed the water and gave it to his brother.
"Thank you," Daeron said. "After father departed the entire duchy was under my control. By entirety means the entire duchy. Last time it was only partially since Dad was here and I thought I could work this out just like that time but I was wrong. The first week was okay then the war happened. Oh, the war. Do you know about it?"
"Yes."
"Good. You know about the queen?" Daeron looked at his brother with concern etched on his face. His diluted purple eyes were foggy and dull.
"Yeah, I can see the changes in you." Daeron smiled. "You've grown big, haven't you? what happened to your arms?"
Damien instinctively touched his ice arm, feeling conscious about it.
It felt off and funny.
"Something happened in the mountains. I just need a potion, that's all." His voice was low and gravelly.
"That's good, right?" Daeron asked.
"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"
"Because you're alive." Daeron pointed at Damien's hand. "That's the only thing that matters. Others can be healed. I'll have the potions ready for you, brother."
"I think we both need some potions, brother," Damien chuckled and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, gently and slowly. "Look at you, you look like you'll die any minute."
"It's not that much. I'm okay. I'm used to it."
"I'll help you with your work. Okay." let's just get healed first."
They laughed at silly jokes and talked about the upcoming battles and their bets.
Of course, Damien chose her sister but Daeron felt skeptical about her saying she was young.
Damien was sure about the winner but he shook his head since Daeron hasn't read the novel and only he did.
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