History of the Realm

Chapter 3

Corinth came closer to Cassius’ midnight meeting. The rain had picked up, and it seemed like a tempest was upon this furtive meeting. Cassius was already deep in debate with the Attican group when Corinth was able to hear the conversation.

“How dare you, my allies, to ruin my day of glory and to rush our well-played trickery?”

Corinth was utterly stunned when he heard his brother. To hear him so easily talk of betrayal of his own homeland after having taken the oaths of an Aldan monarch stirred a fiery anger in him. The Atticans almost immediately began their reply.

“Your brother was to have conducted a review of troops after your coronation, which would have revealed our treachery. You left us no other choice- you seemed unreceptive to having an assassin enter your castle.”

“Once that assassin got in, who was to say he wouldn’t find me after his task was done?”

The Atticans stiffened. “We have no more words for you, traitor-king.” They turned and walked back across the Bight. Angrily, Cassius turned and began walking back. Corinth allowed his spell to fail.

Cassius’ guards immediately drew their swords. “I have no quarrel with you,” Corinth said. Pulling out an orb, he used its power to stasis both guards, binding their material bodies to the plane that was the residence of their souls. Cassius brought his sword down upon Corinth. The mithril blade hissed through air, for Corinth had merely revealed a decoy. Becoming visible behind him, Corinth put a mystical arrow through Cassius, paralyzing him.

“You may speak, O traitor-king,” Corinth said in a mocking tone. “Try to justify your betrayal of your birth-realm, the land you swore to protect.”

Cassius chuckled. “Can you really be so naïve?” he groaned. “We were grinding ourselves into destruction, my ill-tempered brother.”

“And so you would turn us into peons of the Atticans?” Corinth hissed angrily.

“I would make them think us weak…and then make them into our peons.”

“You are a fool with no stomach for treachery. Even now, two of their rogues watch us, lurking in the shadows to wait for your guard to be down.” Corinth launched two bolts of magic lightning, striking the rogues instantly. “Your naïveté is astounding.”

“I have come this far…I will not fail…” Suddenly, Cassius broke free of the arrow’s spell, and charged towards his brother, sword at the ready. Corinth looked into his brother’s eyes and saw only a berserker rage. Septavius will bury a son today, Corinth thought. He brought his hands together. “And…it will not…BE ME!”

As he spoke, jagged crystal daggers seemed to grow from his clasped hands. Corinth lunged and forced the spike through his brother’s armor, impaling him instantly.

Cassius’ breathing slowed. His sword slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground. Blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth. He laughed mirthlessly.

“So…” he spoke, coughing, “this is it, my brother.”

“It is.”

“And do you think you will get away with this act of treason?”

“Without you, I am the only heir of the Aldan throne. They will have to accept it.”

“Now you are the naïve one. Do you believe us irreplaceable? Father can always create another heir with one of the chamber-maids. No, no my brother: I will die here, and Septavius Aldanassari will have you executed for treason.” Cassius spat in his brother’s face. “I guess everyone could have seen this coming…except for us.”

Howling in rage, Corinth released the crystal’s energies, filling the air with inconceivable heat. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Long, spidery cracks crawled along the crystal. It seemed as if the world was fire, all they knew was burning, burning, burning…then the crystal shattered completely, creating a shimmering, dome-shaped shockwave that struck Cassius full force, throwing him into the ocean. Corinth watched his brother’s corpse land into the ocean. He glanced at his hands, now scarred and blistered from the crystal’s incredible heat.

“So it has come to this. Treason and murder. I should have known this from the beginning: one does not simply mimic the Attican’s fighting style without mimicking their methods off the glorious battlefield.” a voice said.

Corinth turned. Septavius stood, backed by a legion of guards. His face was a mask of rage and hatred. Corinth laughed.

“Ah, but it was Cassius who copied the Atticans. It was he who subverted our army on the Bight, and he had planned upon bringing an assassin into the castle so that his rule would start sooner.”

“Silence!” Septavius thundered. “For crimes against your native realm, for the assassination of your Crown Prince, Cassius Polynices Aldanassari, I, Septavius Aldanassari, ruler of the Aldan realm, sentence you to death, to be carried out immediately.”

Septavius struck Corinth with his stave, knocking him upon his side. When Corinth rose up upon all fours, Septavius struck him across the shoulders, driving his face into the dirt. The beatings continued, swiftly, mercilessly. Septavius broke his ribs, nose, several fingers, and was about to finish off his only son when Corinth cast a quick paralyzing spell. Septavius’ lips moved.

“If you so much as set eyes upon this realm again, I will finished the job I started today,” Septavius hissed. “now begone, wretch.”

Corinth fled from Aldan. The torrent now ceased, leaving only the sound of legions marching.