Post Mortem : The Fates

Part 3

Chapter 3: The Queen's Son

Benjamin, or Ben as he preferred to be called, knelt and studied the carcass of what looked to be a small fox. No burns marked its mangled body instead large gashes distorted its very species by signs that it had been beaten by a blunt object. It was possible that someone had done this using their own fists and he knew exactly who that someone was. This was the fourth time this week. They had never cared enough to dispose of the rotting corpses leaving them to rot at the edge of the woods at the far side of the castle like it was nothing. Maggots twisted around on the exposed intestines.

His dark brown hair was short but still long enough for the wind to make it dance and his eyes were engulfed in disgust. Pale skin gave his hair and eyes an even darker appearance. His face was past that of a teenager but still growing into the man that he could never become. The red uniform of the Queen with a gold phoenix crest in the middle branded his clothes.

"With the intensity that you are looking at that thing I think you either want to eat it or sleep with it." The voice of his older brother Jessie chimed.

He careened his head to see a much taller man, Jessie. His long copper hair came just under his eyes and always hung in greasy strands in his face. It looked as though he had not bothered to shave for a couple of days as stubble coated his face from the nose down. He too wore the Queen's uniform, a red vest over a white or tan blouse and black trousers.

"It's Logan again." Ben said resuming his stare towards the decaying body.

"Figures." Jessie shook his head. Out of all his seven brothers Jessie was the only one he liked.

"That kid gives me the fucking creeps." Ben wiped his hands together as if trying to rid himself from the filth of it all. Jessie chortled in response.

"I think that kid's a saint. That's no way to talk about our precious baby brother." Jessie was sarcastic as always. "Of course, we can't know for sure."

"It's him."

"Well, you ready?" Jessie asked with boredom. "Training..." His voice trailed off knowing Ben's hatred of that word. The lie of it, the excuse to harm.

"You mean stand and watch someone else get trained right?" Ben corrected. His supposed training was long gone and would never be missed.

"Does not mean it will not be entertaining." Jessie said, his face or what could be seen of it, was plastered with feigning interest in everything.

"Oh yeah I just love seeing a child get beaten." Ben mustered all the venom he could manage, revealing his true feelings to the only one he could.

"This particular child I think actually likes it." Jessie said thoughtful, the boredom only slightly leaving him. "I've never seen anything like it in my life. Logan enjoys the pain."

"He enjoys dishing the pain out as well." Ben spoke softly unable to keep his eyes from the corpse. "You know he's already stronger than I was at that age. I can't help but to wonder where he will be when he's an adult." The idea horrified him. Not only would Logan surpass him in power, there was no doubt that Logan would graduate to performing his sick experimentation on human subjects. The kid was going to grow up to be a monster. He allowed the thoughts to swirl around inside his head feeding the fire that always burned in his mind. He became lost to the void, the hopelessness, the evil that surrounded and suffocated him.

Part of him was aware that Jessie still waited patiently but he was too far gone to release himself from his head, his only safe place. "Alright I will go get the wedding rings so long as I get to be the best man." His voice pulled him away and back into reality and he rolled his eyes.