by C. M. Cevis
“I despise that man for forcing me to fix issues born of his own arrogance,” she said, more to herself than to Ethan.
“Should this work and we get married, we’ll return with the forces of Irencia and remove your father from the throne by force. Seth seems like he would make a wonderful king, from what little I know of him. I would have no problem depositing him on the throne and leaving him to run this nation while you and I run Irencia,” Ethan said. Sen turned to him so quickly that he almost jumped. Her eyes were a bit wider, her full lips slightly parted. Her face was just a fierce as it had been since the moment that she’d entered the room, but her eyes were softer. Almost like he’d said something that gave her hope.
“You’d remove my father, and allow my brother to lead without any outside influence. You’d let him do what is best for the people?” she asked. Ethan smiled and nodded.
“If you want, I’ll have the court draw up legal papers stating that none from Irencia will interfere in the affairs of Artifice. The three of us will sign it, and we can file it with both nation’s courts,” he said. He meant it; he’d have enough on his hands with the country that he’d been raised to run. He didn’t want a second on his plate, but he did want that man off the throne. He was a bumbling idiot, but his children seemed to genuinely care for the people of Artifice.
“And all I have to do is play nice in public?” Sen asked. Ethan nodded.
“Including for my father. Should he know that I still have my women, he’d be a tad upset,” Ethan said. Sen sighed and nodded.
“Alright,” she said. Ethan stopped. Quite honestly, he’d thought that she’d at least ask for some time to think, or talk it over with her brother.
“Alright?” he repeated.
“Yes. I can live with that arrangement, and everyone gets what they need out of it,” she said. Ethan blinked at her.
“Well alright then. I’ll speak to my father tonight and let him know that you have agreed to marry me,” Ethan said. Sen nodded, reaching into her back pocket and producing a pen.
“Give me your hand,” she said. Ethan frowned slightly, but did as she asked, watching as she turned his hand palm up and wrote a phone number on his skin with the pen.
“That’s me. Let me know what we need to do next,” she said. And then, just like that, she turned and walked back inside. Ethan hesitated for a moment, but turned and followed behind her.
“Well?” her father asked, clearly annoyed at the fact that he’d been separated from the conversation while they talked. Ethan chose not to respond to the King, as did Sen.
“I have what I need,” Sen said. She, Seth and Onan turned and began walking towards the exit together.
“Wait a second, someone tell me what is going on!” the King bellowed.
“This is between the princess and me. Your input is no longer required,” Ethan said. The three siblings stopped and turned back, their faces amused as the King sputtered his outrage at being brushed off.
“What in the hell do you mean? My life is on the line. I have opened my home to you, boy!” he said to Ethan. And suddenly Ethan saw the part of the King that he’d heard rumors about. He frowned.
“I don’t need your home. You only opened it to me because you pissed off a nation more powerful than yours. You’ll know whether Sen and I have made our peace with all of this by whether or not you die tonight. In the meantime, I am leaving. I’ll stay in the city,” Ethan said.
“You have no idea how to survive in the city!” The King almost screeched it.
“You can stay with me and Onan,” Seth said. Ethan turned and nodded.
“Thank you,” he said. Onan grinned.
“We can help you pack,” he said. Ethan returned the friendly smile, seeing now that Onan was a bit easier going than his older brother and sister. There was something refreshing about that, and Ethan found himself wanting to get to know Onan better, finding out more about what inside of him made him so worth protecting.
“I would appreciate that,” Ethan replied.
“Good. Let’s get out of here, I have no desire to be around that old man any more than necessary,” Sen said.
“I know where you live, Sen. I can come to you whenever I like,” the King said, his smile cruel. Sen turned and brought her hand up to her face, one finger igniting before her smirking face. She pointed, and the flame shot from her to the curtains behind her father, the fire spreading quickly as Ethan watched in awe.
“You can come for me if you dare. Just know that I will roast you like the pig that you are,” she said. The King’s face paled as he stumbled away from the flames behind him, squealing as the guard rushed forward to put out the fire.
“Come on, Ethan. Onan has a date tonight, and I’d rather he not be late because we were still here,” Seth said.
4
SETH AND ONAN SHARED AN apartment in a rather upscale neighborhood high-rise near the downtown area of Artifice. They were within walking distance to several bars, nightclubs and restaurants, as well as plenty of shopping. The apartment was very open, giving the impression that it was a bit larger than it was, with nothing more than decorative half-walls between most rooms. The balcony stretched from end to end outside, the entire wall windowed and giving a beautiful, if not busy, view of the city around them.
“There is an extra bedroom through that door over there. It has its own bathroom and a rather large closet. You’re welcome to use it for as long as you need to,” Seth said, motioning to a door on the far end of the dining area.
“I’m in the room here, beside the kitchen. Seth is in that room over there, on the other side of the living room,” Onan said.
“We split the cost for everything here. Bills, food, all of it. That way, there is no argument over who has what. Should there be something that you specifically want, such as leftovers from a sushi date or something, just let us know so that we won’t eat it,” Seth said.
“Which reminds me, don’t eat the cookie dough cheesecake,” Onan said.
“Do you all just rent this place with an extra bedroom, just in case?” Ethan asked.
“We originally chose this unit so that we’d have an extra room for Sen, if she ever wanted to stay. But most of the time that she ends up here, she crashes on the couch,” Seth said.
“She doesn’t live close by?” Ethan asked. He thought it was odd, considering how close they all seemed to be.
“She has a brownstone about fifteen minutes from here. She preferred the quiet of a house to the bustle of a condo downtown,” Onan said.
“Ah,” he said, nodding.
The bedroom that Seth and Onan were allowing him to use was beautiful. It was decorated in crisp white, chocolate brown and a lighter shade of tan that combined well and left the room bright. The bed was king sized, with a large four poster frame and a set of matching end tables. The walk-in closet was impressive for a condo, and settled at the back of it was a dresser, which struck Ethan as odd. He set his luggage down and pulled open the top drawer, revealing several pairs of lacy things, two bras, a few tee shirts and several pairs of shorts.
“That top drawer is where Sen keeps what little clothing that she has here, so you should probably leave that one alone.” Onan’s voice behind Ethan made him jump and slam the drawer shut, as if he was some peeper thumbing through her panties. He wasn’t, but he would admit that he’d paused on seeing them.
“Oh, alright,” he said, trying to calm his heart as he turned around and tried not to look guilty.
“There are a few towels and extra toilet paper in the bathroom already. The washer and dryer are behind the non-bedroom door in the kitchen, feel free to use it whenever you’d like. Just make sure you get more detergent if you use the last of what’s in there,” Onan said. Ethan eyed him for a moment, which made Onan grin and shrug. “Why are you watching me like that?” he asked. Ethan smiled.
“Sorry. It’s just, you and your siblings are so close, and in a lot of ways very alike. But then, there are ot
her ways that you seem to stand apart. For instance, you smile more than they do,” he said. Onan seemed to think about that for a bit, and then motioned for Ethan to follow him.
“Have you heard about the night that we left the palace?” Onan asked as they walked through the apartment at a slow stroll. The faint sound of music came from Seth’s room through the open door, though Onan paid it no mind.
“I have heard that there was a hospital visit involved, and public outrage. Most of that particular story seems to be covered up, though,” Ethan said. Onan nodded.
“Our father did that. He couldn’t really hide it from the people here, but he could make sure that it didn’t go any farther. The long and short of it is that he was pissed, and wanted me to beat on. At that point, I was the small one, the one that couldn’t fight back. I was nine, and terrified of him. Sen and Seth were seventeen, and had already had enough of his shit,” Onan said. He motioned for Ethan to sit on the couch and went to a small display case, opening the glass door and pulling out what looked to be a small shoebox.
“Seth was out that night, and Sen came tearing into my room, talking so hysterically that I could barely understand her. She grabbed my arm and half-dragged me down the hallway, intending to get me out of the house and into the gardens, I think. But we weren’t fast enough, and just as I heard him stumbling around the corner, Sen opened a nearby closet and shoved me into it so roughly that I slammed my shoulder on the back wall as she pushed the door shut. She whispered for me to stay quiet, no matter what, but her whisper was shaking,” Onan said, his eyes beginning to darken. He opened the box and sat the top of it gently on the coffee table. Ethan glanced down at the box and then back up into Onan’s eyes. What he saw there was something that he couldn’t describe, but it made his heart ache for the man in front of him.
“Our father bellowed for her to tell him where I was, but she wouldn’t. He slapped her, then kicked her. He punched her like they were in a boxing match, the blood splattering onto the closet door from the force of it as I watched in absolute horror from behind that damned door as she protected me. I didn’t know at the time, but both she and Seth had taken his beatings to protect me and my mother several times before. This time was different, though.” Ethan didn’t know what to do, but turned at a soft sound to his side as Seth came out of his room and paused.
Onan continued. “Our father beat the living piss out of my sister. Her eyes were swollen shut, her face was cut open and bleeding. There was blood on her shirt and running down her legs, and I couldn’t tell where it was coming from though I knew it wasn’t her head, so she was injured somewhere else. He knocked her to the floor and kicked her over and over again, and I couldn’t do anything but sit in that closet and try not to scream because she’d told me not to make a sound. No matter what!” His voice was a trembling whisper now. A lone tear fell halfway down his cheek before he wiped it away, but he didn’t speak anymore.
“I came home that night in the midst of this brutal beating, and stopped our father, drawing his attention away from her. I never wanted her to take those beatings and it killed me a bit inside every time that it had ended up being her instead of me. Anyway, Onan and I took her to the hospital that night. She had several snapped ribs, lacerations, rips and tears in her skin from my father’s kicks and a face that was barely recognizable, and all she was worried about was Onan,” Seth said.
“Please, tell me this isn’t true,” Ethan said, his face frozen in total horror as he looked from Onan to Seth and back. Seth pulled a few photos from the box and handed them to him. He looked at several before he realized exactly what it was looking at. It was Sen, her body broken.
“This is what he did to her that night. This is why we left there, why we took Onan from that place. We’d have taken his mother as well, but she refused to leave with us,” Seth said.
“This is why I’m different. Because they protected me, to make sure that I was different,” Onan said softly. Ethan couldn’t speak, his mouth stuck open but nothing coming out.
“This is why Sen is so angry at our father,” Seth said.
“My God,” Ethan whispered.
“God had nothing to do with this,” Onan said, taking the photos and placing them back in the box.
“Nothing at all,” Seth agreed, standing and going back into his room.
*~~*
A FEW HOURS LATER, ETHAN sat at the dining room table alone, staring out into the darkness of the city. He hadn’t moved in what seemed like an eternity, the words and pictures still swirling in his head. The horror of it all. That horrible man deserved to die. But, the people of that kingdom did not. He sighed and dialed his father’s number.
“Son, how goes the canoodling?” King Geoffrey asked. Ethan smirked, despite his low mood.
“She has agreed to marry me, so there’s something,” he said.
“Wonderful! Than our kingdoms shall have peace,” his father said. Ethan sighed.
“Dad, about King Michael…” Ethan started.
“Yes?” his father prompted.
“When Lady Sen is my wife, I want to remove him from the throne,” he said. There were a few moments of silence.
“Do I want to know why?” King Geoffrey asked.
“You know all of those horrible stories we’ve heard about how he treated his children when they were younger, before they left?” he asked.
“Of course,” his father said.
“The truth is much, much worse.” Another few silent moments.
“I don’t think I want you to expound on that,” he said.
“You don’t,” Ethan said, putting his head in his hands. He was getting a headache.
“If that is what you want, and your wife-to-be is alright with it, you have my blessing,” King Geoffrey said.
“Thanks,” Ethan replied.
“When do I get to meet the lovely woman?” his father asked.
“I’ll let you know when we are heading back. I’ll have her brothers with me as well, if that’s alright with them and with you,” Ethan replied.
“Of course it is. Let me know and I’ll have rooms prepared,” the King said.
“Thanks, Dad,” Ethan said. His father may not have been perfect, but even with his perpetual screw-ups in the public eye, the King wanted the best for his son. He supported him when he was heart-set on something. It was a trait that Ethan had taken for granted before, but suddenly it meant so much to him.
“Hey Dad, wait a second,” Ethan said, catching his father before he ended the call.
“What’s wrong?” his father asked.
“I just… wanted to thank you, for always being there for me. Even when I didn’t deserve it,” he said.
“Of course, son. I love you more than life itself, you know that.”
“I know. I love you too, Dad,” he said with a smile.
Onan came out of his room a few minutes after Ethan ended the call with his father. He was in a well-tailored suit and had a grin on his face again.
“I’m off. Don’t wait up,” he said with a wink as Ethan came out of his room and smirked.
“Try not to get arrested,” Seth said.
“You say that every time, and I never get arrested,” Onan laughed.
“Perhaps you never get arrested because of my nightly warning, did you ever think of that?” Seth said. Onan grinned and shook his head.
“See you two later,” he said, grabbing his keys and leaving.
“You aren’t going anywhere tonight?” Ethan asked Seth. Seth smiled and shook his head.
“Nope. I have some reading to catch up on. What about you? Don’t stay in on my account,” he said.
“I don’t really know anyone other than you, Onan and Sen,” Ethan said with a laugh.
“Call Sen. She might want to grab a drink or something,” Seth said. Ethan glanced up at him.
“Did she tell you about our conversation on the balcony?” he asked.
“She did,” Seth said.
; “And?”
“And my sister is not as much of a loner as she’d like to think she is. Why don’t you take that bottle of wine on the counter to the address on the note beside it, and see if she’ll let you in,” Seth said. Ethan eyed him for a moment.
“You want me to show up at your temperamental and possibly homicidal sister’s home, unannounced, with only wine to defend myself?” Ethan said. Seth laughed for the first time since Ethan had met him, and it was wonderful and almost infectious.
“Yes. She won’t hurt you. Probably,” Seth said as he turned and went back into his room. Ethan stared after him for a few moments, not really sure what to do. Then he stood, picked up the bottle, the note, and the key that Onan had made for him earlier, and walked out of the door. He was pretty sure that he’d made worse decisions that the one that he was making now; ones that put his life in more danger. Plus, she wouldn’t hurt him. Probably.
5
THE HOUSE THAT SETH’S NOTE led him to was on a quiet, tree-lined street tucked just far enough back from the main streets that the traffic noise sounded like a low murmuring hiss and nothing more. The street lamps were the kind modeled after older streets, like something you’d see on something like Singing in the Rain, and gave the street a glow that could be considered comforting — unless you had an active imagination and were convinced that the spots left untouched by the gentle lights hid something sinister.
Ethan walked along, eyeing the metal decorative house numbers beside each door until he found the one that he was looking for. Sen’s door was the only one on the block that didn’t contain some sort of decorative glass. It was still beautiful, but there was a marked difference between being able to see if an interior light was on and complete darkness. The small wall sconce by the door was on, thankfully, as Ethan made his way up the shrub-lined sidewalk and stepped up to the door. He took a deep breath, and pushed the doorbell.
A few moments later, Sen opened the door. She appeared in stark contrast to the distinguished dark woods and tastefully put together artwork that adorned the hallway behind her as she stood there in a pair of short jogging shorts and a bra. She looked at Ethan and leaned against the door.
