Breakfast was of course a war zone, Aliv and Zedian went at it straight away.

According to Zedian, Aliv had been researching forbidden spells with the royal sorcerer. According to Aliv, Zedian had been smuggling weapons to start a cue. 

Who exactly do they think they're fooling? Besides father, that is.

Then again, considering how father is the pinnacle of stupid and favors the two of them for the throne that wouldn't surprise me. Lorcs muttered something about needing to be at the courtyard for an inspection of some sort and excused himself quietly. Fourth eldest and captain of the twelfth legion, Lorcs had little to no interest in the throne and made it quite clear he would'nt partake in his older brother's feud.

I turned in my seat to watch Lorcs exit, out of all of us Lorcs was the least manipulative, if at all capable of a deceptive thought. A true rarity in court, I thought with a small smile.

Though I could not say the same for the rest of us, surveying the cat fight unfolding before me made me wonder why in hell's name I should be afraid of these buffoons but of course as life goes, I was given a sharp reminder as Xi, my third eldest brother caught my fading smile.

"What's with the smile Orilis? Do you think this is funny?" Xi said coldly, icy black eyes narrowing as he took in my plain attire and unnervingly calm face.

"No, I was just thinking of who I should call to entertain me tonight," I said in a bored tone.

Xi turned away in disgust.

I was used to this, the constant critiquing of my self as a whole and the need to see past my perfect disguise. All my brothers, save for Lorcs, gave me this scrutinizing attitude. I was the perfect son, great at swordsmanship, riding, the perfect student, and never once did I cause any sort of scandal. I was quiet, non existent in the eyes of my father, inconsequential, this was mostly due to being the youngest. That and I liked it that way, it made it easier to do what I needed to do without drawing attention to myself. And yet my brothers, who spent so many years fighting for my father's attention and approval before I was even born saw me as a threat. They had never been able to prove anything because their suspicions could only be chalked up to insanity or some sort of ill placed grudge to any officiator of law throughout the kingdom.

I never really tried to hide my true nature from them after an incident when I was a child but there was no point in trying to prove I was dangerous, there simply was no evidence. Understandably, it infuriated them to no end. Hence how I became drawn into their never ending war for power.

Out of my seven brothers Zedian and Aliv were the two expected to inherit the throne, who was more likely to actually suceed my father depended on who you asked. The second youngest of us, Calv, supports Aliv to inherit the throne. Xi on the other hand supports Zedian. Ior, the third youngest, supports whoever kisses his ass more and Lorcs supports whoever actually winds up with the throne when father dies. And of course there was also me, the youngest of seven who despite no one being able to prove, is interested in wearing the crown as much as Zedian and Aliv. 

If not for my mishap as a child, I may have ended up playing a game similar to Ior, and make Zedian and Aliv have a competition to see who could kiss my ass more. Althojugh that would have been a means to an end. I suppressed a smile at that thought, what a fun idea indeed. I looked cautiously at my father who was sitting at the head of the table, his wrinkled face and old smiling eyes watched his sons trade veiled insults with some form of contentment on his face. Sometimes you really do have to wonder what kind of delusion he lives in, I thought, shaking my head.

I looked up at the clock and then down at my empty plate, I should probably eat a bit before excusing myself...

I wordlessly began piling food up onto my plate, a few slices of freshly baked bread, pears, which were my favorite, and a scoop of cinnamon infused porridge.

I ate quickly and quietly hoping to avoid becoming the center of my brother's ire today.

Finishing off the last few slices of pear I began running through excuses to leave without seeming rude. I settled on the excuse of being late to my court appearance, which was in fact actually scheduled to be in roughly three hours. Mentally kicking myself for not coming prepared with a more solid excuse I cleared my throat.

My father looked at me questioningly while Ior, Aliv, and Zedian did their best not to look vexed. Calv, who had never grasped the point of being subtle, outright glared. Cleary, I had indeed been the planned punching bag of the day.

"I must take my leave now father, my deepest apologies, I must not be late to my appearance in court." Hopefully that didn't come off as planned as I thought it had sounded. Thankfully my father didn't seem to notice.

"You may leave," my father said in his warm voice normally reserved for whoever he favored that day, perhaps my brother's constant squabbling did take a mental toll on him after all. Not that this helped me much, Aliv looked like he wanted to outright murder me.

Making my exit quickly, I walked down the gilded halls of castle Cirgsis and down towards the south-east wing, which was set aside for my living quarters and my personal use. My brothers preferred to live closer together, depending on who they supported. Zedian and Xi lived in the west wing and Calv and Aliv lived in the north wing. Ior lived in the Northwest wing, serving as a divider between to two, and the perfect place to switch sides on a whim. Lorcs was the only one of us that resided outside of the castle, being a sworn in knight, Lorcs live in the barracks and rarely used his quarters in the southern wing.

Yawning, I turned right and continued walking. So much to contemplate, judging by breakfast, father supports neither over the other. No wonder they were fighting like children. Though why they thought that would remotely help them, I'll never know. Ior is supporting Zedian as of right now though. I had learned over the years that when Ior supported Aliv he kept his emotions more in check because of Aliv's tendency to be impulsive. When he supported Zedian he allowed himself more leeway because Zedian isn't as affected by other people as Aliv is.

Snorting I wondered whether father should just offer Ior the throne instead, he is much more even around the edges. More emotionally aware than Zedian but not as impulsive as Aliv. What will I do with him once I am king? 

I have no plans for him yet though I probably should. Aggravated at the thought I entered my quarters more forcefully than intended, causing Liv to rise and pull a dagger from her belt.

"I'm fine Liv." I said, "just annoyed."

Liv cocked her head, "and you say I'm the one with a temper."

"You are!" I snapped back, sounding just as ridiculously petty as I felt.

Liv raised her eyebrows, "yeah, I'm definitely the only one with a temper all right." sarcasm, a rare thing to hear from Liv.

I didn't respond, both too vexed with my father's ignorance and annoyed about my oversight with Ior to trust myself to keep my voice low.

Liv's golden eyes softened in understanding as she read my maskless face and she rose, silently walking over to stand by my side.

"Relax," she said softly, putting her arms around my waist. Her calm demeanor helped me regulate the overwhelming amount of stress from this morning and the last few days that had been building up like a volcano waiting to blow. I focused on my breathing and leaned my head against her shoulder breathing in her scent.

"I'm alright now," I murmured in her ear, "the last few days have just been a lot."

Her eyes flickered, knowing what I meant.