Braith glowered at him. “I’m stronger than you.”
Ashby snorted softly as he sat back. “Bull. You’re physically stronger than all of us, but you are by far the weakest amongst us right now. Your Achilles heel is lying on your lap, and if any of your enemies gets a hold of her, they will control you completely. If they kill her, you are done for. Smarten up Braith. Yes, you are stronger with her in your life, but you are also far weaker. Especially if she stays human.”
“I don’t have much of a choice on that front.”
“Keep her human until you figure out what you want to do. Though, I’m beginning to suspect that might be taking your father down, am I right?”
Melinda’s eyes widened, her delicate mouth parted. “No,” she breathed.
Ashby squeezed her hand tighter as his bright eyes gleamed with an eager light. “Yes love, I believe that Braith has finally realized that there is something more important than duty, honor, and obedience. Right?”
“I will not kill my father,” he grated.
“No, I’m not even sure if you could. At least not by yourself, but you do have the advantage of not being blind anymore, and I’m assuming he doesn’t know.”
“He doesn’t,” Melinda confirmed when Braith didn’t.
Ashby nodded, his fingers twirled idly, Braith could see the gears churning within his devious mind. “You wouldn’t kill Caleb either. But if you could take them down, overthrow their rule, wrest control from them, you would. If you can get enough help to do it. It’s why you came here.”
Braith had forgotten how perceptive Ashby was. It was annoying the hell out of him right now. “You’re hoping that I may still have ties to the rebellious families that fought with mine and somehow managed to avoid capture. You’re hoping that I may know some vampires that might be willing to help you. You wouldn’t be here for any other reason than that, and the only reason you would want to know those things, was if you wanted to oust the king. Am I wrong Braith?”
Braith turned his attention to the window. He would not deny Ashby’s words, nor would he confirm them. He hadn’t left the palace with the intent of ousting his father from power. He hadn’t gone after Arianna in those caverns because he had decided that he was going to fight, he hadn’t pulled her free of there with the intention of one day claiming the throne (he still wasn’t sure he would do that, it depended on Arianna). He had just wanted to get her somewhere safe; to people that might be able to shelter her, and to try and live a life with her. But somewhere along the way he had realized that there was nowhere safe for her, and no one that could protect her, except for him. And if he was going to keep her safe, then his father would have to be removed from rule. A new power, and a new world system, would have to be established.
“This will be interesting, a civil war,” Ashby pondered. “A civil war, within the most powerful regime to ever take control of us. A war between the murderous, vicious father, and the son who hates him. Imagine the consequences of such a thing, imagine the horror.”
Braith stiffened as he turned slowly back to them. Relief radiated from Melinda, hope and desire gleamed in her eyes. “Or imagine the wonder of it,” she whispered. “Imagine the freedom that would come if such a tyrannical, ruthless rule could be broken.”
“Is it your love for Ashby that has so turned you against our father?” Braith inquired.
She tilted her head as she quirked a dark eyebrow at him. In that moment it struck him how very much she looked like their mother. He had never thought much of it; he hadn’t really thought much of his mother, as he had been taken from her at a young age. His father hadn’t wanted him to spend too much time with a woman he was afraid might coddle Braith, and weaken him. The same thing had happened with Caleb and Jericho. He wasn’t sure when Natasha had been taken away, and Melinda had still been a toddler when their mother was banished from the castle.
The woman had done nothing to deserve being banished, she had given the king five children. Though Braith speculated that his mother probably would have been content to just have him, his father had not been. His mother had been banished simply because the king had decided that it would be more convenient for him to no longer have a wife living under the same roof as his mistresses. He cared nothing for the youngest child that would be leaving with the woman.
“No Braith, that isn’t the reason. I have always hated him.”
“I did not realize that.”
“You wouldn’t.” Braith stared hard at her for a moment, but Melinda did not back down from him. “You were in your own world Braith. You were the prince, the future king; you thought nothing of the young sister who suddenly reappeared in your home. And once you lost your sight I was even further from your mind, from everyone’s mind. No one noticed when I disappeared for a day or two, sometimes even a week at a time. I am a nonentity in that place, I always have been, and that is just fine by me. You had it far worse than I ever did, even with my early life outside of the palace walls. I understood my circumstances were far better than the scrutiny, and constant cloud of hatred and disappointment you had to live under. You were never going to be the monster that father wanted you to be. No matter how badly he treated you, no matter how often he beat you.
“Caleb should have been first born.”
“It would have made things easier, and father happier,” Braith agreed without sorrow.
“Caleb may be harder to overthrow than father. If he doesn’t already, he soon will know that he is the new heir apparent. He won’t give that up easily, and the things he will do with that power…”
Melinda shuddered; her hand tightened on Ashby’s, who looked just as disgusted as Melinda. Even the vampire girl was watching them with wide eyed horror. What Caleb would do with that power would make everything his father had done seem petty and small. Blood would spill freely through the palace streets. Debauchery and death would rule.
“How were you able to survive the day that mother was killed?” Braith inquired. He had never asked before, never even thought to, or even given much thought to the fact that his sister had survived the slaughter that claimed their mother.
Melinda closed her eyes, her hands fisted in her lap. Pain flickered briefly across her features as her lip trembled briefly. Ashby rested his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. “Isn’t that obvious?” Braith tensed, he hadn’t realized that Arianna had awakened until she spoke. Her hand tightened upon his thigh, and then she sat slowly up. Her eyes were slightly swollen with sleep, but they were dark and swirling with pain. Her question hung in the air; she waited expectantly for him to say something.