The Prince's Captain (Garroth X Laurance)

[Dante's Betrayal]

From the moment Garroth parked his car in the driveway he could hear shouting echoing from inside his home.

His father wasn't the nicest man. His public image was perfectly friendly, and he acted fine most of the time. But when he got mad... things got messy. He would mercilessly scream at his family until someone was upset or crying. On rare occasions he'd get violent, but he always apologised profusely the next morning. Before long, he'd be pretending it never happened.

In his eyes, he wasn't doing anything wrong. Shouting at his sons whenever they made a mistake? That wasn't abuse. It was discipline.

His dislike towards Zane and Vylad always reared its ugly head in these arguments. He didn't truly dislike them— but the favouritism was obvious. He rarely fought with Garroth, and Zianna was a masterful mediator. Unfortunately his younger two sons were utter screw ups in comparison to his eldest. Neither were fit to inherit the family business. He had to teach them a lesson.

Garroth carefully entered the front door and made his way into the living room. He was welcomed by the sight of his father roaring at Zane, who was crying and yelling right back at him. He also spotted his mother weeping quietly in the corner of the living room.

"Where have you been!?" Garte bellowed, slamming a hand on the table as he suddenly turned his anger toward Garroth. Zane flinched at the action. The older brother cowered slightly under his father's rage, but stood firm.

"At the library with Laurance, father." Garroth replied, his voice steady despite the fact he was trembling.

"The library? Garte questioned, frowning in confusion. Garroth nodded, keeping eye contact as he spoke calmly.

"We went over our group project together." Garroth explained. Garte recalled receiving a text from Garroth along those lines earlier.

"Right. You did inform me of something like that." Garte admitted, shaking his head. "I need a drink." He sighed to himself before heading to his room. It seems Garroth's appearance had made him forget what he was initially yelling about. Zianna followed after her husband, wanting to make sure he wouldn't do anything reckless with alcohol in his system.

Zane let out a sigh of relief as he sat down on the couch behind him. He was still a little teary, but was calming down now that he didn't have his father screaming in his face.

"You alright Zane?" Garroth asked quietly, handing his brother a glass of water. Zane merely nodded, trying to act unbothered by what just transpired.

"He was mad because I got home late. I guess he couldn't keep yelling at me for being late once you arrived even later." Zane explained, causing his older brother to sigh.

"He does that a lot, doesn't he?"

"Yeah."

"..."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"It's ok. You're here now."

As Garroth pulled his brother into a hug, he noticed Vylad standing at the top of the staircase watching the whole interaction. He shot the younger boy a half hearted smile while he held Zane close. Vylad smiled back awkwardly, before walking away to what Garroth assumed was his bedroom.

Zane eventually pulled apart from Garroth, acting slightly embarrassed and turning his head away.

"I wish he listened to me like he does with you." Zane admitted. Garroth was mildly aware that Zane saw him as the golden child, and he understood why. His father had always favoured him to a disgusting extent.