Closer Than Brothers

Chapter 2: The Duke's Life

        Neblanc was distinct from the kingdoms. They were ruled by, well, a king or a prince. They were kept tranquil, orderly. Neblanc was ruled by a duke. Here, the streets were filled with rubble and junk, and fires were started all the time.

It was utter chaos, and Remus loved it.

Of course, Deceit had other opinions on this. Well, he went by Deceit, anyway. He'd insisted on that name for as long as Remus could remember, and refused to go by anything else. Remus had reflected on his cousin's thoughts about how to rule. Why should he care? Deceit had rarely even checked in on him anyway, and the last time was years ago.

Five years ago

"I don't see the problem, Dee. The people can do whatever, as long as they understand I'm in charge."

"That's exactly the problem, Remus. And don't call me that! You know perfectly well that you can't just let citizens run wild! That's how you end up falling out of power!" Deceit starts to storm out of the room, but stops near the door. "If you think you can do this on your own," he said, "then you can rule on your own. I don't care."

That was the last time he had seen his cousin. Typically, it didn't bother him. If his cousin didn't care about him, then so be it! But lately, the loneliness had left him noticing a different underlying feeling. Something was missing. He just couldn't place his finger on what.

Whatever. He'd just ignore it.

Bored in the castle, Remus had been considering heading out and causing more chaos, or maybe causing some inside, when he found a letter had materialized in the fire pit. It was from his brother, Roman. It had been so long since they last spoke, they'd both kind of drifted away from each other when their cousins separated them. Why wait until now to contact him?

He began reading the letter.

Dear Remus,

I know we've had our... differences in the past,-Hah! That was putting it mildly-but it's been years since we last saw each other and I wanted to speak to you again. I'm sure we both have a lot to catch up on-Oh, he had no fucking idea-so I'm inviting you to my castle for the week.

I hope to see you soon,

Roman

P.S. Don't tell the cousins. They don't know and never will.

There were a lot of things the cousins didn't and never would know. Remus was about to visit one of them now. He would be leaving right away, but he had to say goodbye to someone first.

He searched his home until he found her. "Kasia," he called as the manticore-chimera came into view. The creature ran to him as soon as he entered, knocking him over in excitement. She might have still been young, but she had certainly grown since he first found her in the forest behind his castle, abandoned by her parents. He'd tamed the wild creature, and taken her in as a pet. "C'mon, girl. I gotta put you away. I don't want to, but I'm leaving soon, and we both know I can't let you roam free with no supervision." He led her partway down a hall and opened a door that looked like a giant painting on the wall. But it wasn't just a giant painting, because what kind of castle doesn't have any secret passageways? These hidden tunnels went everywhere inside and outside the castle, and even went to the others. But there was one room he needed right now.

Traveling the familiar paths, he found the room where he kept his pet back when Deceit still visited. A couple years after he stopped coming, he let her explore the castle as she pleased, but once when he'd left her alone while he was gone for a few hours, she caused more chaos in the castle than even he could imagine, and now whenever he left he had to lock her away again. They both hated it.

Petting the goat head, he told her, "I don't want to leave you locked up here like this, but I'm going somewhere for a few days, and I can't bring you with me. I'll try to visit when I can." It was the best he could comfort her. Then he tossed in a few of her favorite toys and left, somewhat heavy-hearted, to grab everything he would need for a week at his brother's and took the passageway there.