Blood, Fire and Steel

Chapter 7

"What do we do now?" Matilda finally asked after a few moments of silence.

"Well, we're in a war. We'll need allies," I replied.

"Who should we call first? Albert or Wilder?"

"Wilder. He is a, no pun intended, wild card here, and Magnus must know this too. We need to get to him before he does."

"Alright."

It didn't take long for Wilder to respond to our request for a call. As soon as his image loaded onto my screen, I could see a million calculations running through his pitch-black eyes, as if they were weighing us up through the screen.

"Good morning," Wilder greeted, his voice cautious.

"Wilder! It's so good to see you again! How long has it been since we last spoke together without advisors running around us? 10 years? 15?" Matilda replied enthusiastically.

"It has indeed been a while, Matilda. Given yours and Princess Minerva's tight schedules, I trust that this is not a social call?"

Matilda shot a startled glance at me. Was Wilder referring to the fact that Ursidia had just officially joined the war? How would he know? Unless...

"I know this may not be what you want to hear, but yes, I have joined Magnus' side in the war."

"Why?" Matilda asked, her voice a mixture of shock and fury, "I thought you were the smartest and most logical one out of all of us. Surely you see that this war will bring no good for any of us. Surely you won't side with the one who started it."

"Look, this war is going to happen anyway. It's more logical now to side with the stronger side than the side that wants this war to end. I have to start to think about just my country now, not the whole world."

"You know that Father wouldn't have wanted this, right? He made the Emerson Empire for the sake of peace," I said.

"Respectfully, Minerva, I don't care what Father thinks anymore. I only want to do my job, which is to lead Serpentia to power and prosperity. And before you call me selfish, remember that it was he who wanted me to be cunning and even devious. It's what he built me to be."

Wilder's eyes shone with resentment, and his voice was dripping with thinly veiled bitterness. He wanted to be an outgoing and strong warrior like the rest of us, but Father had another purpose for him, even before he was born. He had chosen an especially smart woman to be his biological mother, and he wasn't going to let the genes go to waste. While the rest of us got up at 6am to train and were often paraded in front of guests at parties, Wilder was locked indoors to study and learn from Father and his political advisors. He wanted Wilder to be the brainy one among us if the whole planet faces some great trouble. Wilder was using his brains now alright, but it was to destroy the planet, not fix it.

"Well, if you're certain, then I believe we don't have much else to discuss. Goodbye, brother mine," I farewelled.

"Goodbye," he said before ending the call.

As soon as Wilder's image faded from our screens, Matilda hung her head, looking absolutely downtrodden.

"I've always been quite protective of Wilder. He may be 243 years old, but to me he's still my baby brother, you know. I wish we could've gotten him on our side." Matilda sighed.

"I know. But there's no time to grieve. We mustn't lose our other baby brother."

Seeing Albert's white curly hair, chocolate-coloured eyes and the soft dimples on his dark brown skin made me smile too. I conceded there was no need to worry about Albert going to the other side. The fun, easygoing pacifist of the family would never support a war.