Chapter 3: Chapter 2

"Where the hell is he?! I know he arrived. I gave him half an hour to clean up, so where is he?!" A woman screeched. I could hear the loud tappings of her heels as she grew closer to my room.

"My lady, he must rest. He'd been gone for almost a week. I'm sure he'll-" a softer, quiet voice called out.

"No! I don't want to wait for him to call me! I wanna talk to him now!" Naeva, my sister, whined.

I huffed a breath and pulled myself from the bed. I looked out the window to see the sun rising. I must have slept through the night past sun up.

Walking to the door, I tied the robe but didn't bother tidying it.

I opened the door to see my sister, about half a head shorter than I was, looking up at me expectedly. My sister's lady in waiting next to her gasped as she looked upon my messy state.

The sleeves barely hang onto my shoulders, but at least I had the decency to cover up my bottom half!

"You wanted to talk to me, dear sister?" I asked her as I leaned against the door frame.

"I do. I need to talk to you about your current rulings," she stated

I blinked. She's always complained that I was too harsh, but this was the first time she told me straight up.

I looked over at the lady in waiting who had composed herself. She bowed and walked off.

I walked back inside, and my sister, taking it as an invitation, walked in behind me.

I sat on the couch and looked over the papers that were stacked upon each other on the coffee table. I liked to hoard documents, even if they were years old and unimportant.

"Ugh! Why don't you clean out what's unimportant? Do you really need all this?" She asked as she held up a random piece of paper.

"That paper showed a record of how much crops were shipped to the Big Pebble Kingdom and how much of an income was collected back," I explained.

"And you just proved my point of why all this is unimportant." She said

"If it were unimportant, I would still not throw it away," I said

"Whatever," she said, dropping the paper back on the table.

I looked up as she stood above me. She looked so much like mother that I almost hugged her. Her dark red hair shined so brightly like a ruby. She kept it in a bun near her nape, but when we were younger, she would leave it loose, flowing around her shoulders. Her dark green eyes stared into my hazel eyes. Other than our eye and hair color, we could almost pass as twins.

I noticed a few strands of her hair came loose. I stood and put them back into place.

She sighed, "Why do you always want to kill? Where's my little brother who would always follow me like a little duckling?"

I dropped my hand. Did she think I wanted to kill?

"I don't like taking the lives of others," I said

"Then why do it? Why take lives when you're supposed to protect them.? Tell me. I just want to understand!" She cried.

"A king must have a cold heart to keep others from freezing as well," I said

"That does not make sense. Why not warm yours so you can warm others?" She asked

"Don't take it so literally, big sister." I chuckled.

She didn't laugh. Instead, she combed through a few strands of my hair. An ombré from black on top, to dark red, to dark orange, and finally into a pale yellow on the ends. It's long enough to brush just past my waist.

"Is it because of the phoenix? Is that what makes you different?" She asked

My hair is a symbol of the phoenix within me. It's what makes me king. It's my proudest feature of myself.

"Daphne…You don't need to understand me. You just need to be there for me. Please support me." I pleaded

She threw her hands up and waved them around, "How could I support a murderer? You've torn so many families! Those soldiers were only following your commands, and you led them to death." She said,

There have been many soldiers who have lost their lives because of my poor judgment, and I will be the first to admit that. But…"They were soldiers who were prepared to lay down their lives for the safety of this kingdom."

"No shame! None! Do you not think about their families when you take them to murder others who might also have families?" She cried

"What about our family? They already took half my family, and I won't let them take the other half!" I yelled

"But what if you are going about this the wrong way? Did you not think of another way to end this brink-of-war bloodshed? I bet you haven't even thought of that!" She yelled back. Her face flushed red, and her eyes brimming with tears, which she always got when angry.

Her voice echoed throughout the room and possibly the hall.

I stayed silent. Of course, I've devised ways to try and end this war. But a few pretty words cannot end thousands of years of rivalry and grudges.

Daphne stomped her foot and left the room. But not before calling me a few colorful names.

The butler comes in and asks if everything is alright. I sit back down on the couch with a long sigh. I wave him off and wait for the next course of action to take place.

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