The Sister

I eyed Tucks warily as he sat across from Nicklos and I. I had told him yesterday that I would leave his nephew alone, but then was romantically involved with him instead. I could only imagine what he thought of me right now, even if he didn't say anything. In his mind, I would be damning his nephew's kingdom. But I could only trust at this point, that Nicklos knew exactly what he was doing.

"You did mention you knew something's about my 'sister'. You said she was hiding in plain sight. Could you be talking about Laylia?" I asked skeptically. If he was talking about Laylia, then was she really related to the other criminal warlords?

"You are preceptive. I was there on the day your father sent away his mistress. My brother was as well. It was on the day of your mother's wedding. Malia, was her name. Came barching in, demanding that he take responsibility for impregnanting her. Now normally he would do anything for her, but in that moment he had not a care for her. Wanting to look good in your mother's eyes he had banished her from the castle, claiming that she was trying to gain the crown. With her history, I never would have doubted it." He turned quiet, a dark look in his eyes. Like he was recalling a rather bad memory.

"Laylia's mother was indeed not faithful. But it was his child still. Malia's family history has been nothing but prostitute's and beggars. They would do absolutely anything they could, to get the highest positions. When one man was milked dry, they would move on to the next. Their whole family was absolutely toxic. Some have even said they would kill off any boys they gave birth to, because men where worthless as prostitutes. Back then, only men held the power. Things have changed since then." Tuck's eyes fell on me. I was starting to understand where his distrust of me was coming from. Although my mother was respectable, my father was a terrible influence. Impregnanting a woman that was not his wife, was highly looked down upon. He doesn't want me to ruin his nephew. Being a woman, he thought of me as toxic.

"In Malia's mind, she thought if she could earn the Prince's favor, she could easily become the Empress. That much power and money to a commoner, it's like hitting a jackpot. She could bend everyone to her will. But as the rules would have it, only a noble or another royal can marry another royal. She was neither. A play thing so to speak. So when she found out that your father was going to be getting married, she seduced him into sleeping with her. Low and behold, she become pregnant. Thinking because she carried royal blood in her womb, she had a chance to claim the crown. But in the end she didn't, and thus was sent away."

"No one really paid her any mind when she was banished, but when I first found her here while visiting once, I kept tabs on her. I watched as her daughter grew and when her daughter became of age, she killed her own mother." Uriah said Malia had killed herself because she was in despair. Did Laylia lie to him, or did he lie to us? What was the purpose of this lie? And if Laylia was really all behind this, why would she use the I has her name? This wasn't adding up.

"Although your story seems realistic, there are still to many factors that don't line up. If this is Laylia who is causing all the troubles, why use the letter I as an alias? When Uriah confronted us, he said that Malia had killed herself. He even hired fake assassins to try and "kill us"." I muttered rubbing my temples. All this information wasn't adding up. Unless the I was the I to throw us off, or was it someone else helping out Laylia?

"Tell me how much do you know about your father?" Tuck's asked casually, leaning back agasint the couch. His arms folded against his chest, almost looking amused as I sat frustrated. He knew more than he let on in the beggining, and quite honestly it was starting to irritate me. I wanted to end this fight as quickly as possible.

"Up until recently, honestly not much. My mother kept mostly everything hidden from me, whether that was from the goodness of her heart, or by his demands." I hissed between my teeth. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if this was both of their wishes. My mother was trying to preserve my father's image as I grew up. She didn't want all of the ill things he had done to taint my personality.

"That doesn't surprise me given your mother's sweet nature. After you where born, your mother grew quite sick. I am sure this much you already know. Your father looked for quite sometime to find a healer, even went as far as leaving the country and finding aide in others. They weren't exactly sure what kind of illness she had, but the medicines they tried preserved her life. But she couldn't concieve another child. No matter how hard they tried. Your father was desperate for a male heir, and would sleep with many women. I mean he went from village to village, looking for any acceptable female. If they wouldn't oblige, he would burn it down. I have never seen a man more mad than him." Tucks shook his head sadly, taking a moment to pause before he launched back in.

"He swore that Illia's mother was the one. He went as far as blessing her at the church just to make sure that it was going to be a boy. But Illia's mother had a baby girl, and lost her life because of it. Since Illia is blessed by the church, he can not kill the child. It's against the rules. Now he is stuck with two daughters, only one will be able to ascend the throne. He hold on to you so tightly, because if you where to perish Illia can't ascend the throne, she doesn't have an intelligent bone in her body. But Laylia does. With Uriah at her back with being a son of the Counsel, you can gaurentee that she will ascend the throne. All they have to do is kill you, get rid of Illia, and the Counsel will recognize her as the next in line." So Uriah lied too.

Uriah wasn't disowned. In fact him and the entire Counsel was plotting against my kingdom. I could only assume that they were tired of my blood line, and wanted to get rid of it entirely. After all, both my father and grandfather where tyrants. Causing nothing but distruction and laid waste to every villiage they happened across. They where also the main reason why very few Kingdoms associated with us. They where going to do everything they could to change history. But that doesn't explain why Uriah set up fake assassins.

"So why the fake assassin's then? Why go through all this trouble when they could have just killed us with real ones and make more progress? Does this also mean that Laylia's brothers, aren't her real brothers?" Every answer came with more questions. This was so much information, and it was hard to comprehend every little bit of it. The frustration was building, boiling underneath my skin. Why was so much hidden from me?

"I can't answer those unfortunately. My intel can only go so far. A few good men died recieving just this information alone for me, and I can't expand any more resources. You are on your own now. I have said my piece." With that, he pushed himself off the couch, and towards the staircase. I watched him silently, wishing that he didn't resent me so much.

"We will figure this out, I promise." Nicklos said as he gently tucked me close to him. The warmth from his chest helped calm my nerves a smidge, but it wasn't enough to comfort the unease that was building around my heart. How much more was hidden in the dark? What else would I uncover from the disaster? What's Uriah's motive for not actually killing us? There was no way that he was that stupid to send untrained people, to assassinate us. Especially if we where wanted dead to begin with.

"Well the good news is, we know more now, than we knew half an hour ago. We have made some progress." Marquise offered as a sentiment to cheer me up. I gave him a weak half smile and nodded.

"Yes, but we also have no idea where Maxwell is and right now, everything still kind of sounds fishy. The only thing that seems solid, is Laylia's motive. She is going to try and take the crown."