Pierre hadn't been able to rest for the last few days. He kept having nightmares and in those nightmares, he saw Lucian. Every night, his brother while looking like the devil would haunt him and drag him to hell.
"Feel at home brother." He would say and then leave him there to burn.
The nightmares would feel so real that when he woke up he would be drenched in sweat and his heart would beat like drums inside his chest. It didn't help that rumors about his brother being alive were making rounds and it was scaring the hell out of him even if he didn't want to admit it. Everytime he went to sleep he would feel as if someone was in his room, watching him and waiting patiently for an opportunity to strike. It was making him lose his mind.
"Come out! Show yourself ! Don't hide like a coward." He yelled but no one replied or showed themselves.
Everyone was starting to think that he was crazy, talking to himself and yelling without a reason.
At first, he tried to hide his fear and frustration but now he no longer cared what people thought of him. He just wanted this torture to end. He was sleep-deprived and he felt exhausted for everyday that passed by.
Tonight while he had dinner at his chamber he kept looking at his bed. He didn't look forward to sleeping. Maybe he could go to one of his mistresses and sleep there instead of alone. Why hadn't he thought of that before?
Standing up from his seat he went to the mirror. He had to make sure that he looked good before he left the room but while he glared at his horrible state in the mirror a guard suddenly barged inside the room.
"Your highness. We are under attack." He exhaled.
"What do you mean attack?! Who is attacking?"
"The royal army. I don't understand why." The guard seemed confused.
Pierre on the other hand knew why. It was his brother Lucian. He had come for him just like in his nightmares and now he would drag him to hell. All those years he mocked his brother for being the devil's son without truly believing it but now all that turned out to be true.
"Your highness. We need to take you to a secure place. Please follow me."
But Pierre couldn't move. He was in too much shock. He didn't know where to begin.
The guard grabbed him by the arm and began to drag him out of the room.
"Protect the King." He ordered the other guards. "and clear the way. Our priority is to take the king somewhere safe."
"No place is safe. The army seems to know their way around. Someone on the inside is probably working with them." Another guard spoke.
"Its Lucian." Pierre breathed after holding his breath for what seemed like hours. "He has come to kill me."
The guards looked at him as if he was insane and maybe, he was. He would find out soon.
"We can take him through the secret passage." The first guard suggested.
"We are all going to die." Pierre whispered his eyes wide in fear.
"Not yet brother."
A shiver went down Pierre's spine. This voice he knew very well and he never thought that he would hear it again. Slowly he turned around and just right behind him a few feet away stood his brother, Lucian. He looked just like he remembered and not like someone who came back from the dead.
Pierre's guards froze in place, their eyes wide in both shock and fear. Their arms shook while they held their swords up in a defensive way. Pierre wanted to tell them to attack but the words couldn't form in his mouth. It felt as though his tongue was paralyzed.
