Outside Work We... •[TNN One-shots]•

Successor •|| KNIGHT FAMILY ||•

Prompt: There could only be one successor.

The air in the old manor was heavy that night, pressed down by years of secrets, smoke, and the kind of violence that never quite washed out of stone walls. Reece could smell the iron tang of gunmetal and old blood even before he entered the main hall. The chandeliers overhead glowed a pale gold, catching on polished marble and casting long shadows across the floor. The room had always been a place of judgment, a throne room for their father to decide who lived, who died, and who told the story.

Tonight, it was meant to be their execution ground.

Reece stood at the far end of the hall, his jaw tight, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. Across from him, Autumn walked with measured steps, her long braid swaying with the deliberate grace of someone who had been raised to kill. Her eyes met his briefly, and the smallest flicker of sorrow crossed her face before it vanished, replaced by the same cold mask they had both been trained to wear.

Between them, on a throne carved from dark oak, sat R*ger. Their father. The man whose empire of blood and steel stretched across cities, whose name was whispered with terror. His hair had grayed at the temples, but his gaze was still sharp, merciless.

“You know the rules,” R*ger said, voice gravelly but unshaken. “Two heirs cannot exist. The mafia cannot serve two leaders. Like a kingdom cannot serve two kings. Only one of you leaves this hall alive tonight.”

Reece swallowed hard. His throat was dry, his heart pounding so loud he wondered if the guards lining the walls could hear it. He wanted to speak, to protest, to tell his father that this was madness - that family wasn’t supposed to be torn apart like this. But he knew better. R*ger never tolerated weakness.

He glanced at Autumn again. His sister. His anchor. They had been inseparable since birth, raised not as siblings but as twin blades of the same weapon. She had been the stronger one - faster with a knife, sharper with a gun, fearless where he hesitated. In training, she had always been the one dragging him back to his feet, smirking when he complained, telling him to keep moving.

And now he was supposed to kill her.

The silence stretched. Then Autumn exhaled slowly, stepping forward. “Let’s get this over with,” she said, voice steady.

The duel began.

The first strike came from her. A blur of motion - her blade catching the dim light as she lunged. Reece barely raised his dagger in time, the clash of steel ringing in his ears. Pain jolted through his arm from the force of the blow.

She was holding back. He could feel it in the way her movements hesitated, in the openings she left too obvious. But even when pulling her punches, Autumn was terrifying. Every strike was calculated, designed to test him, to push him, but never quite to kill.

“Fight me, Reece,” she hissed under her breath as their blades locked. Her eyes burned with something fierce, something desperate. “If you don’t, he’ll kill us both.”

“I can’t” he gritted out, shoving her back, sweat beading on his forehead. “You know I can’t beat you.”

Her jaw tightened. “Then you’ll die.”

Steel clashed again. She swept his legs, and he crashed to the floor, air punched out of his lungs. She could’ve ended it there. One thrust downward and it would be over. Instead, she stepped back, waiting.

Reece dragged himself up, rage and grief tangling in his chest. He swung wildly, forcing her to parry. His attacks were sloppy, desperate, but she let them land closer than they should have, her movements slower than he knew they could be.

He realized it then.

She wasn’t going to fight him. She was going to let him win.

“No,” he whispered, stumbling back. “Don’t you dare.”

Autumn’s blade nicked his cheek, shallow enough to sting, deep enough to draw blood. She leaned in close, her voice barely audible. “This is the only way.”

Reece’s stomach turned. His hands trembled on the dagger hilt. Every instinct screamed to throw it aside, to walk away, to spit in their father’s face and refuse. But behind him, he felt R*ger’s stare boring into his back, unyielding, expectant.

He knew what would happen if they refused. Their father would kill them both without hesitation.

So when Autumn left her chest wide open - the fatal mistake she would never make in any real fight - Reece felt the world collapse around him.

He drove the blade forward.

The sound was sickening, metal sliding into flesh. Autumn gasped, her body jerking as his dagger buried itself between her ribs. Her hands trembled, dropping her own weapon to the floor. The clatter echoed through the hall like a funeral bell.

Reece caught her as she fell. Her blood was warm, soaking into his shirt, searing against his skin. His vision blurred with tears, and he shook his head violently.

“Why?” he choked out. “Why did you make me?”

Her lips curved into the faintest smile, even as blood stained them crimson. “Because you’re my brother,” she whispered, voice breaking. “And I’d rather die by your hand than his.”

Her eyes fluttered shut. Her chest rose once, twice, then stilled.

Reece’s scream tore through the silence.

He didn’t let go of her for a long time. His arms tightened around her limp body as if sheer willpower could anchor her soul back into it. His dagger slipped from his hand, clattering uselessly to the floor. He buried his face into her hair, sobbing silently, shoulders shaking.

From the throne, R*ger finally stood. His footsteps echoed, slow and deliberate, until he loomed over his children.

“You hesitated,” he said coldly, looking down at the lifeless girl in Reece’s arms. “But you finished the task. That is what matters.”

Reece looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. “She was your daughter,” he snarled, voice raw. “And you made me kill her.”

R*ger’s expression didn’t flicker. “Weakness has no place in this world. She chose her fate. And now, you have proven yourself fit to lead.”

Reece wanted to tear his throat out. He wanted to wrap his hands around the old man’s neck and strangle the life from him, to watch him crumble like the empire he had built on broken bones and betrayal. But his body wouldn’t move. He was hollow, drained, every shred of strength bleeding out with his sister’s last breath.

The guards began to close in, dragging Autumn’s body from his arms. Reece fought them, thrashing, clawing, screaming until his throat burned. He begged, he cursed, but they pulled her away all the same, her blood leaving a dark trail across the marble.

When the doors finally slammed shut behind them, Reece collapsed onto the cold floor. His dagger lay a few feet away, glinting faintly in the dying light.

He had won.

And he had lost everything.

[A/N: Annablel don't kill me girl :') Oh and kudos to whoever finds the Hamilton reference. <33]