STAY OF EXECUTION: 1254 (1-4)
Plinios
As much as he tried, Plinios was still struggling to remove the corrupt influence that Cornelia held over the affairs of House Lekares. Having been in charge of the finances of the Despex ever since he was a child, she had since firmly gained control of the office of Steward, her disgusting fingers getting all over the finances of their home. And that said nothing of her influence as the Despexa by marriage. With his father sadly insulating himself from the day-to-day affairs of the Despex of Eryras, she had been able to rule as she pleased for far too long. Even though Benarion, Zoe and himself had grown to challenge her since reaching adulthood, the fact was that she was still in a position of strength compared to them. A frustrating truth to Plinios, but a truth none the less.
This was exemplified by the fact that the council was filled with her cronies, men and women who owed their position due to their loyalty to Cornelia instead of House Lekares. The only one not completely under her sway was the Marshal Innokentios, though the former officer of the Lego XXI “Axiaothea” had his own issues that made him an unreliable ally outside of military circumstances. Thankfully, Plinios had not spent the last decade doing nothing. He had learned to build himself a place at court by being sociable and well learned. And with time, this was enough to help the oldest son of Despexir Gregorios make himself an unavoidable presence in the important circles of his home. And when the old Court Magi died in late 1252, Plinios was able to seize the office for himself, being the most apt Magi of House Lekares after his father (and even then, his father was far too reclusive to be an active Magi these days). Cornelia had tried at the time to block his appointment, but she was only able to stall it. By 1254, Plinios could at least be happy.
But now that he was secured in his office, Plinios was far more interested in finally getting married. The fact was that he would turn thirty this year. Thirthy! But due to the interference of his wicked mother-in-law, his father had not been able even start searching for an appropriate bride. His father would have surely solved this issue by now had it not been for her. And he wasn’t alone in this predicament, as neither Benarion nor Zoe were married either. At one point, he had confronted Cornelia about this, who claimed that there were simply no offers of marriage because
“no one wants to marry his daughter to a pale skin red eyed monster”. To this he answered:
“I still find it fascinating how you can say those things while your son is just as afflicted by this as I am. At least I am the heir. What is Arthoris’s appeal?” She clearly did not like this as she stormed out fuming. While a victory, it did nothing to solve his situation. In retaliation, the three oldest siblings had been blocking any marriage plans for their half-siblings, thus driving the whole family to a standstill.
But now he decided to take the matter into his own hands. He had searched for a prospective bride, which he found in the Despex of Psacus, south of their brutish ruler’s territories. He had even managed to get in contact with the Despexir about a potential union between their families. This powerful alliance to a woman with a good amount of magical blood in her veins would do a lot to reinforce his position as the heir. All that was needed now was to get his father’s authorisation. It was most likely that the old patriarch was in his library, which while usually restricted was thankfully fully open to the Magi of the family. And indeed, Plinios was able to find his father siting in his chair, surrounded by a pile of books. His eyes looked tired, as if he had spent the whole night here.
“Father?”
“H-Huh?” Gregorios answered, his attention divided between his son and his book.
“There is something important that I would like to… impair to you.”
“Do you have to?” the old man asked meekly, clearly wishing to return to his reading.
Plinios frowned at this.
“It is important that we talk of this now, father.”
“Is Cornelia… not available?”
“Father!”
“No, no… You are right.” he said, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to keep himself awake.
“What do you need me for?”
“I plan on getting married.”
“Already?”
This comment took Plinios aback. What did he mean, already? He was twenty-nine!
“You married mother when you were barely adults. I feel it is about time that I have a wife of my own.”
“You believe so?” Gregorios asked his son, seemingly unsure.
“Indeed I do, father.”
“Well… if that is what you want. I will ask Cornelia to organize a match…”
“I already took the initiative of preparing one.” he said, handing the letters to his father.
“Her name is Viviana of Philippaeras. Daughter of a Despexir and good education. I was told she was a bit meek, but in an endearing way.”
“Oh… I see. Very well then. I will arrange it.” the old man said.
“Indeed, you will.” Plinios insisted before leaving the library, happy that things went well for once.
________________________
Corvus
Corvus decided that it was safer to stay out of the way of his half-siblings when her mother got on their bad side. He was already in the crosshair of Plinios due to his status as a Magi. There was no good reason to deteriorate their already cold relationship by actively supporting his mother right now. And today, Plinios and his full siblings certainly had a beef with his mother. In one of those few instances where their father presided over court, he announced that he was in talks with the Despexir of Psacus over a marriage with his daughter Viviana. What caused an uproar was when the groom from House Lekares was announced.
“YOU HAD NO RIGHT!” Plinios roared as he pointed an accusative finger at Corvus’s mother.
“It is my mother you are talking to.” Damianos declared as he interposed himself between the them.
“Be more respectful.”
“Out of my way, you little thief.” Plinios declared.
This gave Corvus a small chuckle. You can call Damianos many things, but little was certainly not one of them. His older brother stood in front of Plinios, both of them gazing at each other in challenge. In the end, it was Damanios who stood out of the way for some unknown reason, though Corvus noticed that his brother looked bored.
“Sons, please…” their father muttered in his beard.
“I am the one who found this match. I am the one who contacted them!” Plinios insisted.
“Well… after discussing it with Cornelia, she made some good point and…”
“That lady is more suited to Damianos.” Cornelia interjected.
“The pillow talks clearly went great for her.” Zoe mocked.
“Zoe, please…” their father tried.
“My son is closer in age with the bride. Surely it is preferable.” Cornelia continued.
“More than marrying a Magi?” Plinios retorted.
“He got you there.” Zoe added.
“It’s about time I get married.” Damianos protested.
“And look who’s trying to get ahead of himself.” Zoe said.
“Mother, am I getting married or not?”
“Yes you are.” Cornelia insisted.
“And I should just sit as you take away my hard work to pave this marriage? Do you intend to make a fool out of me, Cornelia?” Plinios spat.
“She is to marry Damianos and that is final!”
“I am owed this!” the albino countered.
And this shouting match quickly devolved into the same thing as always, with neither side wanting to accept the marriage of the other. Corvus only sighed at this. He was perfectly willing to wait to get married. But at this point, no one would
ever get married. After a week of dispute, a surprising compromise was proposed by Plinios, who suggested that the lady Viviana marry Benarion instead. A unexpected proposal, but one that was deemed inoffensive enough for Corvus and some of his siblings to agree to it, thus stopping their mother from also protesting this one. Benarion was no threat, even if he was technically second in line to inherit. He would surely never be able to use the political advantages that came with this union. The marriage finally agreed upon, messengers were sent to the Despexir of Psacus to finalise everything.
Except that the Despexir refused once he realized that Benarion had no trace of magic in his blood, making the match worthless in the Despexir’s eyes. He had first been proposed a Magi and was now hoping that this could still be fulfilled. And it’s at this moment that Corvus finally jumped in and suggested himself. If the Despexir wanted a Magi as his son-in-law, then the number of candidates diminished drastically. Damianos and Benarion were obviously out, as was Arthoris. With Plinios having proven to be a dead end, this left Demitrios and himself. Corvus being the better Magi, he was easily chosen as the candidate for this match, much to Plinios’s frustration. But now he had a political alliance to support him if it ever came to blows with his brother. His wife eventually arrived to their home and the couple was married, making Corvus the first of the nine children of Gregorios Lekares to finally be married. Also wanting to be the first to produce an heir, he had his father use a spell to boost his fertility on the night of the marriage.
______________________
Theophana
But this was not the only marriage that had been in the planning. While the dispute over Plinios’s marriage took place, Cornelia had been looking around for another potential match. Eventually, she received news that the Despexir of Kourorion in the West was seeking a family in which to marry his second son Hermon Zerveas. Being that Hermon was himself a Magi, Cornelia saw a great opportunity to unite him to Theophana to produce a line of powerful Magis. Cornelia went as far as to make Gregorios invite a delegation from Kourorion, which arrived at the end of the first month of the year. The delegation included Hermon and some of his relatives as envoys.
Hermon received a warm welcome, arriving in a rare moment of calm as at the time everyone thought that Benarion would be the one getting a bride. Well, everyone but Theophana, who had barely followed this whole affair. It was obvious to her that a good Aversarian lady would not marry a powerless man like Benarion. She did pay more attention to her mother’s reception of the guests, which made it clear that one of the twins was getting married. She guessed that it wasn’t the magicless Anabasia, which meant that she would be the one being betroth. This was confirmed when her mother presented her to a young man named Hermon.
“He is a Magi like you, you see?” she said with a smile.
At first curious about the marriage, Theophana’s attitude quickly changed once she was left alone with her thoughts. She knew that her strange behavior was the result of magic, she knew it. But she could never guess who it was. Maybe it was one of her brothers? Surely none of them like having another Magi to contend with. Maybe it was their bumbling father? No, even she couldn’t believe that their old man could be behind this. But wait… what if it was this Hermon? He was a Magi, wasn’t he? Yes, this was all part of his plot! He wanted to torture her until her family was desperate to get rid of her, then he would swoop in an marry her. Yes, it all made sense! Why he wanted this, she didn’t know. But there was no way she would go along with it.
She started to avoid Hermon like the plague, and all attempts by her mother to arrange private meetings between the two failed miserably. It was to the point that her mother confronted her in her room. Theophana tried to explain the situation, how Hermon was up to no good. Her mother answered by slapping her “just enough to bring you back to your senses”. Theophana realized that she needed help, preferably from a fellow Magi. She went to her father, but he simply answered
“M-Maybe you should talk of this with your mother?” As for her brothers, who knew if they worked with Hermon? And then she had another incident. During one dinner she was forced to attend, her mother arranged for her to be seated with Hermon. When he turned to her and opened his mouth, clearly whispering some magic words, she felt the urge to launch at him and scratch his face with her nails. She screamed at him as she did so, but was stopped by a hand pulling her back before she could do much damage.
“What is wrong with you?” said Arthoris, his red eyes showing a mix of shock and disgust.
“I-I… it’s his… I didn’t…”
Panicked and unsure of herself, she fled the reception in haste.
____________________________
Anabasia
“What am I going to do with this brat?” her mother lamented as she walked around the room.
Anabasia simply stood in the corner in cold silence. She had seen her twin sister humiliate herself like a pathetic animal at the reception. She was not sure what Theophana precisely intended to do, but she at least wanted to harm her fiancé. That part was obvious to everyone, including the delegation. In their youth, Theophana talked about the greatness of the Magis, and how her training made her a greater person. But surely the Aversarinas Aagiokrata didn’t take into account defective individual like her sister. It would probably have been less trouble to throw her out the window at birth, in all honesty.
“Do we really need to discuss this now, mother?” Corvus asked.
“We need to fix this immediately.”
“With all do respect, mother, what I need is to finish preparing for my incoming wedding.”
“You have time for both.” she argued.
“Corvus is getting married in an hour!” Damianos pointed out.
“None of us have time for this!”
Their mother gave him a look that made their older brother step back. It wasn’t far enough to avoid the hand that struck his face, though.
“After all I do for you, do not talk to me that way!” Their mother declared.
“S-Sorry mother.” Damianos responded, clearly taken aback.
“Maybe we should have invited Arthoris and Demetrios then.” Corvus said.
“They might have helped us find a solution faster if they were here.”
“If we all assemble in one room, that albino Magi will know something is up.”
“He probably already knows.” Anabasia pointed out.
“By now everyone know that the betrothal will be called off.”
“No. No, no, no, no. I worked hard on this. And for once, none of your half-siblings have been dragging this into the mud. I need this match for Theophana to work.”
“Where is she anyway?” Damianos asked.
“I
ordered that she remained in her room until she cooled down. Maybe by then the delegation will have forgiven the previous incident.”
“But I doubt she will.” Anabasia said.
Finally shifting her attention to her daughter, their mother made her way to Anabasia and looked at her (though not too long, as she couldn’t hold the young woman’s gaze).
“What do you mean?”
“Theophana will probably lock herself in her room, even if you let her out. She is too paranoid, too weak, too pathetic.”
“She is a Magi.” Corvus said, defending his sister.
“One good quality does not make her competent, brother.” she responded before turning back to her mother.
“I will do it?”
“What?” Damianos spoke, saying what the rest thought.
“She will fail you mother. Theophana is unreliable. I will marry Hermon Zerveas.”
“You will do that?” her mother asked.
“Yes.” was her only answer.
After waiting for more, and then realizing that she was finished, her mother sighed.
“It will take some persuading, but we could salvage this with you. Fine. Corvus, get on with your wedding while I arrange hers.”
_____________________________
Zoe
Unlike what Cornelia had thought, one of Tatiana’s children was in fact involving herself in the marriage negotiations with the delegation from Kourorion. But instead of trying to hinder the efforts of Cornelia to marry one of her daughters like Plinios would have, she instead saw this as an opportunity to use Cornelia’s ploy to discreetly find herself a husband of her own. Now, Zoe was none as interested in being married as were her brothers, who clearly saw this as a tool to secure their place in the inheritance of their father. She enjoyed having escapes from time to time, which might become difficult if she had a husband.
However, she also knew how useful it would be to marry someone respectful, someone with great magic potential, if only to annoy Plinios (who she knew would feel threatened to see her marry a Magi). The delegation, while having multiple relatives of Hermon among them, only had one other Magi: his great-grandfather Egina Zerveas. Egina Zerveas was a relic of an age long gone, being born all the way back in 1121! Born while the Empire still stood unified, this made him not only older than Frodbrokna, but also older than Ordstund. How he was still alive was anyone’s guess, but the fact was that he still stood, having even survive the trip to the home of the Lekares. He was also an adept of living magic, with magical potential which exceeded even that of Gregorios and Plinios. She knew that bringing such an old and experienced Magi would irk Plinios the wrong way, which only motivated her to do so. Plus, having an old and senile husband would make it easy to keep having her fun on the side.
She discreetly mingled with the delegation from Kourorion where she managed tog et the attention of the old fart. She then expressed her interest in marrying him, with the delegation surprised but happy to have two marriages instead of one now lined up (especially with Theophana having just done a scene that risked Hermon’s marriage). Her family was however a lot less keen on this arrangement once the delegation informed them of their willingness to approve the match. Cornelia tried to have it cancelled, which only confused the delegation. With the old Egina now stubbornly decided on marrying Zoe and the delegation unwilling to leave with him only to send him back a month later, they insisted that Zoe’s marriage also be approved. Gregorios, at first hesitant, humbly agreed to welcome such an ancient and esteemed man in his home, much to the frustration of his family. Zoe could smile as she had finally secured a weak husband to use as she pleased. It was thus a double wedding that was celebrated at the end of the second month: that of Anabasia and Hermon, and that of Zoe and Egina.
____________________
Benarion
This year’s marriage affairs had been exhausting to say the least. Plinios’s plan to get married was derailed by Cornelia, but then they managed to block the marriage of Damianos to the bride. Seeing an opportunity, Benarion had then suggested to his brother that he could be a compromise candidate to marry Viviana. Everyone saw him as inoffensive, which is why Plinios would probably not feel threatened if he was the one to get married. In fact, his older brother would surely expect him to use this match for him. Of course, Benarion didn’t explain how this union would give him a great advantage over the rest of his family. Viviana was quite the match, with great magical potential and being the daughter of a Despexir. This would have worked, had Viviana’s family not opposed the marriage due to his lack of magical potential, eventually leading Corvus to be the one marrying Viviana. Once again, he suffered from the magical standards of his people.
And in the end, not only Corvus but Anabasia and Zoe got married. It was shortly after the marriage of the later two that the Lekares family received an envoy from their liege, the self-proclaimed Aautokratir of the Bloodied Throne. The man that stood before them was one of those brutish peasants that the Skull-Taker had promoted to unacceptable heights.
“The Aautokratir is in need of a Court Magi.” The envoy explained.
“Gregorios Lekares shall do. Your master awaits you to the capital soon.” The man offered a wicked smile to them before departing back for his domains, leaving the Lekares unsure how to respond.
The first thing they did was to have someone warm Gregorios of the situation. He had been in his library when the envoy came, and so it was Cornelia and Plinios who received him. Benarion could see that his father was not happy about the prospect of serving as Gorassos’s Court Magi, seeing the panicked expression on his face. As always, their father asked what he should do. Some, like Damianos, Demetrios and even Theopana were completely against the idea. Serving a man who made such a perversion of the Aversarinas Aagiokrata would be a disgrace. But their father was convinced to accept by cooler heads like Corvus, Arthoris and Benarion himself. This was a great opportunity to solidify their family’s situation, especially since they had yet to formally pay homage to Gorassos. And besides, it wasn’t like they could really say no to this monster.
Their father agreed, declaring that he would leave the following morning. Benarion was not surprised when the following day the old man had changed his mind, wanting to stay a bit longer to pack some books for the trip. Instead, he sent Benarion ahead to explain to the Skull-Taker that he agreed to the appointment, but that he would be late. An unenviable position that he tried to weasel out of without success. After all, none of his siblings was willing to help him, as it might mean having them sent instead. Benarion thus resigned himself as being the one to jump in the monster’s den.
He arrived a week later at the court of Gorassos. His soldiers were all brutes, clearly waiting for an order to shed blood in his name. Savages without restrain, all of them. Eventually, he was allowed in the throne room of Gorassos when an official guided him in. He fell on his knees in front of his liege, though he did look up to see what this Gorassos looked like. The Skull-Taker was a giant, far taller than his throne and almost too big to even fit in it. He thought that Damianos was tall, but his younger brother did not compare to the Skull-Taker. His shadow was falling upon the Lekares, obscuring much of his face. All Benarion could see was the horned skull he had on his head. It created for a horrifying sigh, especially as the Skull-Taker’s bloodlust was apparent even without seeing his face.
“What is THIS?” Gorassos said, taking the official’s head in his hand as he pointed to Benarion with the other one.
“T-This is Benarion Lekares, Aautokratir.”
Benarion could hear the heavy breathing of Gorassos speed up as he began grunting in anger.
“M-Master ple-“
The official was unable to finish his sentence. Benarion turned his sigh away, but he could still hear the man’s head being bashed repeatedly against the armrest of the throne. At some point, he heard the sound of something cracking and hoped that the armrest was the one that broke. It eventually stopped, and Benarion looked up. Gorassos was standing in front of him, for which he was thankful as it blocked the view of what had happened to the poor official.
“I asked for Gregorios Lekanes!” the giant shouted, grabbing Benarion by the hair and holding him over the ground with one hand.
While not ashamed of what he did, Benarion would never admit to anyone that he quietly soiled himself that day.
“I-I…” he breathed in, trying to regain his calm.
“My father is on his way. He just wanted to send me ahead to warn you that he might be late.”
Gorassos looked at him in silence, which only made Benarion more worried. Then the giant threw him away like he was some used tissue. He thankfully managed to land with only small bruises.
“GUARDS!” the Skull-Taker screamed.
“Chain him up somewhere!”
“Aautokratir?” Benarion asked while doing his best to hide his worries.
“Three days. He has three days to arrive. After that you WILL BLEED!”
_________________________________
Damianos
With their father having left for the Skull-Taker’s court, his mother was now in charge of the affairs at home. It was good for him that she was, though once again he wondered why his father didn’t hand the duties of regent to his oldest son Plinios. He was still the heir for now, after all. Sometimes, Damianos agreed with his mother that he should be the heir, but right now that wasn’t the case. He asked this question to his mother, who simply answered
“Of course we won’t let the albino be in charge. Do you not realize what this would mean for us?” This set Damianos straight. His mother was right, he had been raised to be the heir, and by the Purest he would be the heir of House Lekares!
One important step toward this was to get married. If things continued like this, Corvus might make a better heir than he did, having been trained as a Magi and being recently married. Normally, this would have caused another dispute like the one they had to go through two months ago. He had almost gotten married back then, but it had taken too long and had instead gone to Corvus. But now his mother was in charge, having even more authority than when his father was present. He entrusted her to rule the Despex in his absence, and she was going to use this opportunity to finally get him married. It was about time too. How much longer would he need to wait for a marriage?
At first, his mother brought him a great proposal. She had arranged a betrothal to Anastasia Aelmithras, granddaughter to one of the most powerful Western Aversarian Despexir. This was a great opportunity to build himself a network of support, to gain allies in his quest to be the heir. This all sounded an amazing plan to Damianos. Well, until he had more details about his bride. She had no magic potential whatsoever, which made her clearly unworthy of marriage. How could he be a proper heir if he did not produce powerful Aversarian children with magic in their blood? But even worse, she was only eleven at the time, meaning he would have to wait FIVE YEARS to get married. He wanted to get married now!
His refusal to marry Anastasia infuriated his mother for some reason, even if it was only proper for a man of his birth to refuse such a humiliating match. She spent the next weeks finding someone else to marry her son, eventually settling on a noblewoman named Ioulia Hagiotheodorites. She was a noble yes, though not one related to any great family. But that didn’t matter to Damianos. She was an adult with as much magic in her blood as Plinios or their father. Truly, she would give him great heirs. He was at bit annoyed at her humble nature when they finally got married, as it was beneat an Aversarian to be humble, but she was also quite “enthusiastic” in bed, so he let it slide.
But his mother got the ire of Plinios and Zoe when she tried to give him his own territories to administrate. The fact was that even for her this was too much territories to manage alone in the name of his father. His mother said so herself. Which is why she needed his help, him, the future heir, to administrate them. She declared her intention to give the Kothex of Tansaponélli, one of the islands under their control, to Damianos. Finally, he would rise and have his own position as Kothexir. Immediately, this caused a backlash from Plinios, who for some reason opposed the idea. Damianos was baffled. Plinios was already the heir, so what was the problem with him getting a Kothex? Why was Plinios supposed to be the one getting one, huh? Wait… why was Plinios not getting one? As the current heir, it would make sense that he got the experience in rulership as a Kothexir first.
The disputes between his brother and his mother continued all the way into the second month. Even with her increased authority, it seemed that his mother was still struggling to get her way with Plinios and Zoe opposing her at every turn. It would probably have continued like this it hadn’t been for that one morning. In the middle of a dispute, everyone was shocked to see father and Benarion entering the hall.
“Am I interrupting something?” he asked naively as everyone looked at him in shock. Damianos later learned that his father had quickly changed his mind about serving as Court Magi for the brute Gorassos, which was a good thing. However, it took him and Benarion far longer to get out, eventually fleeing into the night after leaving a note of resignation behind. His mother was quick to take the opportunity here, explaining what she was trying to do. To this, their old man simply answered:
“Ver well, you know best”, before going away to lock himself in his library. And just like that, Damianos became Kothexir of Tansaponélli.
___________________
Demetrios
Within days of their father’s arrival, the Lekares siblings received a messenger. Demetrios expected him to be from that savage who dared pretend to the title of Aautokratir. Surely, he did not like the way Father had abandoned his post as Court Magi. But no, this man was instead sent by Kothexir Hyppolithos of Rissos, one of the other poor Aversarians forced to serve the savage Gorassos. His envoy was now proclaiming that his lord was leading a revolt against the Skull-Taker and that others were already joining in this coalition against the monster.
“We ask that the great Despexir Gregorios Lekares stand with us,” the envoys proclaimed.
“Your family is a noble one, and we hope to see it stand for true Aversarian values with us! We can no longer allow this monster to pervert our values for his twisted bloodlust!”
Their father thanked the envoys and then asked to be left alone with his family. Demetrios was quick to voice his opinion on the subject.
“We need to act, father! Gorassios is unworthy of being Aautokratir. He needs to be put down before he dooms all Aversarians in the region.”
He then stopped, waiting for the rest of his siblings to shout him down. But to his surprise, everyone was in agreement for once.
“We cannot cowardly wait in submission.” Arthoris added.
“We need to help the revolt and send our troops against the madman.”
“Considering how father left, we have little choice but to revolt anyway.” Zoe chimed in.
“His blood cult is an affront to the Aversarinas Aagiokrata!” Damianos boldly declared.
“I’ve seen what this man is capable of.” Benarion explained.
“He will probably try to kill us anyway for fleeing.”
“Father.” Plinios finally declared.
“Today we stand at a crossroad for the future of our family. And I foresee that there is only one path that will make us prosper. We have to, no, need to, join the revolt. It is the only way forward.”
___________________________
Arthoris
“What do you mean?” Arthoris snapped.
“I said you aren’t coming.” Innokentios repeated.
The Marshal of the Despex was in full armor, overseeing the troops as the fourth month of the year was ending. They would soon leave home to go fight the Skull-Taker, with Innokentios chosen to lead the troops. The Marshal was a strange man. A former member of the Lego XXI “Axiaothea”, he had left his service to the Lego and come to the Despex to offer his services. The man was brave and easily the best military commander at Gregorios’s services, which is why father made him the Marshal. He was also a man prone to cruelty with the troops, which seemed enough to keep them in line. But the weirdest part about him was that he was part of this Aversarian cult that revered the Aautokrata Axiaothea. They saw her as an almost divine being that fought in a fight for good against the evil of Aeschraes.
“But I am ready to fight! I know how to fight!” Arthoris protested.
“Well, we do not need you.”
“And Demetrios is needed?”
Innokentios rolled his eyes.
“I don’t have time for this,” he declared as he walked away.
“I should be fighting with you all!” the albino insisted, turning to his brothers.
Present on this expedition were some obvious faces. Plinios was obviously going, being their best Magi after their father, and there was no chance that his older half-brother would miss an opportunity to assert his position. Which made it even more frustrating that Arthoris couldn’t go. Corvus also went by virtue of being a Magi, as the more magic they had on their side the better. And then there was Damianos, whose swordsmanship was good enough for war, which only made the younger brother confused as to why he was being denied this chance. He had also trained hard and wanted an opportunity to fight. But most frustrating was the presence of Demetrios. Why was his younger brother allowed to go and not him?
“You heard Demetrios.” Corvus said with a shrug.
“We already have enough Heprasitoi for this expedition.”
“Then why is the brat getting picked over me. I am older! I have more experience!”
“Because a Magi is more useful than a sword when it comes to victory.” Plinios told him without even giving him a look. This infuriated Arthoris, as it felt like Plinios saw him as beneath him, unworthy of his attention.
“Plinios is right.” Corvus agreed.
“Damianos, make them see that I’m needed here.” the younger brother pleaded.
“Look, Arthoris…” Damianos started, with a sorry look on his face.
“No, don’t you go agree with them.”
“But he is a Magi, after all. It is his right to be there on the battlefield.”
Arthoris gave him a confused and frustrating look, wondering on which side his brother was on.
“It is as Innokentios said.” Plinios declared as he finished putting his armor.
“You are staying. Now stop harassing us and get out of the way.”
“But…”
“Learn your place.” Demetrios told him as he pushed him aside to join their brothers.
Arthoris was furious, but all he could do was look at them as they leaved their home leading troops while he stayed behind, frustrated at his lack of power over this issue.
______________________________
PS: So this chapter was waaaaaaaay longer than what I intended. For comparison, my Dragon Kin chapters started as two 1k sections (so around 2k), though they grew up in size, and my usual Last Days of the Han chapter was roughly 3k. This chapter has a word count of 6k. While I love it, I might switch my writing style or reduce these chapters in size considerably seeing how long it took to write (and how my hands hurt from it xD). 
