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THE SON, THE PRINCE, AND THE HEIR.
Names and the knowledge of those names held power. That was the very reason that no one alive knew the true name of the man that ruled over the largest organized crime syndicate in the world. The White Death's name would remain an unknown mystery of the world, and such would remain true for each member of his family — for his wife and three children.
Names held power, but they also held meaning, and the children were no exception to that.
The Son, the oldest of the three, was given the name Vasili at birth — to be kingly, was what it meant. From birth, the White Death favored his firstborn, the male, the one meant to follow in his footsteps. But Vasili never could live up to his namesake, not nearly as well as his sisters, at least.
The Prince truly was a destroyer, as her name Gedeon suggested she would be one day. Though a male heir had already been born, that did nothing to curb the White Death's annoyance at the birth of a daughter instead of another boy. He could not allow himself to extend the same affection to Gedeon — or the closest thing to affection that a man like him could muster. And that lack of love was what would truly shape her into a destroyer once she was old enough.
Someone as misogynistic as the White Death did not want one daughter, much less a second a few years later, as if that wasn't evident by him yet again forcing a name meant for a man on a baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
Kliment Petrova was her full name, though few in her life were ever permitted to learn it. For anyone related to the White Death to be considered merciful as her name suggested was almost as laughable as looking at Vasili and thinking he was fit to rule anything at all.
The Lamb used to be what she was known as — her father needed something to refer to her as, and when watching her crawl around and babble uselessly, that was all he saw. Yet another useless, weak lamb that could be slaughtered to attack at his empire.
It was rare that his three children saw him growing up — the raising was left to their mother and a handful of babysitters that were also trained assassins should the children ever be targeted. They were almost never allowed to leave the compound, trapped to the concrete walls that they grew up in.
But when the White Death was around, his favoritism toward Vasili was evident, always taking him more seriously and keeping him close when it came to the family business even from such a young age.
Gedeon saw this and grew vengeful and spiteful. She grew to hate not only their father, but the whole family as well, particularly Vasili. Their father saw this jealousy, as she did very little to hide it, and thought less of her for it. He all but cast her from the family, and she was all too happy to leave, making sure to spit on the guard that led her from the compound the day she left.
This was where the two sisters differed — the relationships they had with their father. Gedeon saw their father's shortcomings toward their gender and let hatred take root in her heart. Kliment, though unhappy, saw it as an opportunity.
Once she was old enough to walk and talk and bat her eyelashes, she became exactly what was expected of her. The perfect and loyal doting daughter who could always be trusted to listen to her father. As reward for such exemplary behavior, if Kliment wanted it, the White Death bought it. If it wasn't something that could be bought, he'd make it happen no matter the means.
The White Death didn't love his youngest — deep down, the only person he'd ever loved was his wife. But the next best thing was how he felt about Kliment. With Gedeon rebelling and cutting off all ties to make something of herself on her own, and Vasili wasting his life away with drugs and jail time, becoming the weakness their father always thought his daughters would be, Kliment became the favored child.
As she reached her late teenage years, in addition to giving her everything she could ever ask for, he began giving information. Kliment was soon sitting in on meetings with the most dangerous men in the world and learning family secrets not even Vasili was permitted to know.
It wasn't long before the world forgot about The Lamb, and all anyone heard about was The Heir. The child set to inherit everything should the White Death ever fall or step down from his position.
No one outside of the White Death's inner circle knew for certain that Kliment was The Heir — most assumed, incorrectly, that the title went to Vasili. He was the oldest and a boy, after all, and Gedeon had been off the radar so long that some even forgot about her entirely.
And with the title came freedom and trust that extended to every corner of the earth. Unlike her siblings, who were only permitted to leave the compound because they evoked so much hatred and disinterest in their father that he kicked them out and cut them off, Kliment was free. Free to live how she pleased in Paris, Zürich, New York, Dubai or anywhere else that wasn't on the island of Japan, where she'd been trapped all her life.
Kliment wasn't proud of the things she'd done, of the things she'd turned a blind eye to and forgiven in order to get close to her father. But he was pure evil — someone that only a handful of people walked away from with their bodies fully intact — and you can't destroy pure evil, despite how hard Gedeon would try.
