Fiery Betrayal

Chapter 1

With a heavy sigh, Riavan loosened the collar of his shirt only to have it frantically fixed by his stepmother, Evelyn.

"Will you behave!" she shouted. "The duke and his daughters will be here any minute and you have to look your best!"

"I get that but you and father both know that I hate these death traps you call clothes."

He attempted to loosen his collar once more only to have his hand smacked away. Causing him to groan loudly. His stepbrother, Azriel, laughed from where he sat at the opposite end of the room.

"They say I'm the baby in the family yet it is you who acts like one more." Azriel chuckled when he saw Riavan clench his fist tightly in an attempt to control his anger. He turned his attention to Evelyn who was franticly smoothing out his outfit.

"Riavan I told you that it doesn't matter what you think. We have an image to uphold and you can't be seen running around in villagers' clothing. Why can't you be more like your brother? He is so well behaved." As she walked over to Azriel and began to compliment his choice of outfit for the evening, Riavan loosened his collar just enough to allow him to breathe.

He loathed his stepbrother. It was always about Azriel, how handsome he looked, how smart he was. Everything he did was perfect in the eyes of his parents. It didn't matter if what he did was right or wrong.

Azriel was perfect.

While Riavan was nothing. It didn't matter how hard he tried or what he did it was always wrong. He was always a failure.

A few moments later, a servant came into the room and announced that the guest have arrived.

The three of them walked into the ballroom where everyone was gathered. This would be the 3rd visit by the duke and his daughters to the family home. Riavan was not convinced that this was a mere business deal as his father had stated many times before. Regardless of the purpose, he just wanted the night to end as quickly as possible.

He watched as Evelyn went to join his father, Radu and the duke while Azriel went to join one of the sisters. Leaving Riavan to the mercy of the duke's youngest daughter.

She was standing next to her sister when she noticed him from afar. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she waved and ran as fast as she could toward him. Riavan braced himself as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, nearly tackling him to the floor.

"Riavan!!! It is so good to see you!! Did you miss me??" Unable to wiggle out of her embrace, Riavan let out a loud sigh and patted her back softly in the world's most awkward hug.

"It certainly has been... Quiet without you here."

She giggled loudly and squeezed him as tight as she could before letting him go.

"I knew you would! Don't worry though we won't be separated for much longer." with a look of pure confusion he tilted his head to the side "What do you mean we won't be separated for much longer?" he asked.

She giggled loudly and gave him a gentle shove before responding. "Don't be silly! You know why! My sister is to marry your brother and I am to marry you! Its apart of everything our fathers have been talking about this whole time."

Riavan felt his heart drop into the pits of his stomach. The word marriage echoed in his mind. It all made sense now. Everything was planned from the start. Everyone knew, everyone except Riavan.

"M-Marriage?! What do you mean Marriage?!"

His voice echoed loudly off the marble walls. Causing everyone to fall silent and direct their attention to both of them.

The daughter's smile faded slightly.

"Well yeah we have spent so much time together. Getting to know each other so we can fall in love and get married. I-I love you, don't you love me?"

At this point, everyone had gathered around the pair. Riavan could feel their eyes on the back of his head forcing him to turn around. Each set of eyes felt like daggers piercing into his very soul.

The duke crossed his arms and looked down his nose at Riavan. "Is there a problem boy?" Riavan gulped loudly, however when he went to respond the youngest daughter burst into tears and began to sob loudly.

"Daddy he said he doesn't love me or what to marry me!!"

At that moment everything exploded into chaos. His father and the duke began to yell at him, his stepmother did her best to calm the two while his brother shouted how awful he was for breaking a beautiful women's heart all the while the oldest sister worked on calming the youngest one down

Riavan could feel his heart rate as it pounds loudly in his ear. Everything was so loud, so chaotic. It was too much.

He franticly searched for a way out. Turning this way and that in hopes of seeing an exit, only to find none. The outsides of his vision began to turn dark, and the room around him soon faded away. Leaving him surrounded by the loud mumbled voices that echoed off the ballroom walls.

In an attempt to silence the voices around him he closed his eyes as tight as he could and pressed the palms of his hands over his ears. This however only made the voices louder.

Stop... Shut up... Make it stop... Make them stop...

He could not control the tears that now ran down his cheeks. The voices grew louder and louder till he couldn't take it anymore. At that moment, Riavan screamed as loud as he possibly could.

"Damn it just stop!!! Stop yelling!! Just fucken stop!!"

Everyone fell silent, the only sound came from Riavan's soft whimpers. As he slowly opened his eyes he looked around at everyone's shocked expressions. Everyone except his father, whose face filled with rage.