A.N. If you don't like more descriptive scenes of violence/torture, don't read the paragraph marked WARNING:
Got it!
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I was walking along the corridors when I saw someone I definitely didn't want to see. So I lowered my head and pressed tight against to a cabinet in a shadowed corner of the hallway.
"Ren! My dearest brother." he said with a smirk. "How lovely it is to see you."
Raising my head, I walked out of my hiding spot with my best posture to show no weakness. But of course he saw straight through it.
In one smooth movement, he slid behind me and patted my back in a conciliatory manner. "It's okay to show your true nature. You don't need to put up a weak front. After all, that's what you are! Just a weak. Little. Crybaby." Sage had glanced at me to see my reaction every so often, and his eyes lit up with every new emotion I displayed.
I knew that the only way to get him to stop was to show no emotion at all. And most importantly, no matter what he says to you never, I repeat never ever, ignore him or brush him off. Even worse is to turn your back to him. He may be the scrawniest and most gangly of us three, but he is the deadliest.
Having been raised by our mother, well his mother to be more exact, he is well versed in the arts of poison, deception, and assassination. If you got on his wrong side, you never knew what would happen to you.
Sage is like a leech, once he latches on to you, he will never let go until you have been sucked dry.
The cause behind the servants constant fear is him. He is the true mastermind behind the curtain, always acting vulnerable and wronged in front of our parents, yet instilling fear in the hearts of all the servants, causing them to be his shadow puppets.
The incident that almost took my life last month is proof of that. He had tampered with my horse, and when I was out for a ride, it spooked and suddenly reared. I was caught off-balance and knocked to the ground, injured. Afterwards it galloped away, stomping on my stomach in the process.
I was found unconscious and over half dead around a day later. The horse was never found, but dinner was a "special" beef stew the next day.
A few months ago, a large amount of weapons, leather armor, and jewelry went missing. The next day a serving woman and an attendant who were married to each other were sent away as evidence had been found in their rooms.
A few days back, she had tripped on a fold in the rug and spilled soup all over Sage. They never found found a new job.
WARNING: These are just a few examples of his horrendous behavior, however no one can stop him. If we tried, he could accuse us of trying to harm him to steal his inheritance. We would be put to death immediately, or killed of silently. It would all depend on his mood and how much he wanted to enjoy his "game" of torture. I once accidentally saw him as he was playing with one of his victims in the dungeon's secret sealed room. I can't get the gruesome picture of him slowly flaying the person alive a little bit at a time out of my mind. After some skin was gone, he would rub in a mixture of salt, lemon juice, and sand into the exposed flesh, and grind it in using a scouring brush and a metal rod. Every so often he would cut a small part of his body away. First a chunk of the ear, next a joint of the finger. near the end he would gouge at the eye, but only one of them. With the other one, he would slice the eyelid almost all the way through. After I got away from this scene, I heaved, continuing long after my stomach was empty.
Basil, on the other hand seemed like a complete angel. To girls at least. Unmarried at twenty-three, he was considered this region's most eligible bachelor for the past four years. Make that five, as there's no doubt he'll get it again this year. People say that his beauty is so exquisite that it would be worth it to travel all over the world and only catch a glimpse of him once. Fortunately for the ladies of our town, he likes to go out very often. And stay out. When he's home on his rare days, he's shut up in the study, composing love poems and reading books. I only see him for a few hours each week, and usually only at meals. He is slightly arrogant because he was always praised while growing up, but he means well. He has his own way of avoiding Sage, but I have none. I am forever stuck in this cage of mine, never to get out even when the key is so close.
YOU ARE READING
The Hunter's Sorrow.
Fanfiction"I just want to care for animals. I don't care about marriage to the person you picked out, Father." I cried out. "I don't care, you will marry and you will act like a sane person. No more dallying with your animals." Why doesn't he understand me? ~...
