Where Were You?

Author's Note: This story is dedicated to my own family. I don't know if you'll be reading this, but if so, read closely. There's a whole different story between the lines that I've written. A whole different world in each letter on a page. One that only you can see.

The golden sun poured its warm rays over Meridell gardens, and the flowers raised their colorful faces to greet it. It poured over the hills, fields and vales, smiling on the crops and peasants. It poured through Skarl's stained glass window, shifting colors. The Skeith king's bedroom was doused in the red, gold and blue, colors of Meridell. Home.

     The window had been a gift from Skarl's brother, Hagan. Custom-made. A peace offering, a symbol of alliance between the two kingdoms. Skarl paced around his bedchamber restlessly, glancing at the window every so often, as if searching for some crack or fault in it. But it was, to the untrained eye, perfect. Interlocking pieces of glass in the shape of the Meridell flag. The flagstaff was crossed with another flagstaff, in the shape of an X. From this other staff, the banner of Brightvale waved in the green and white.

     There had been a time, long ago, when Brightvale and Meridell were one and the same. A kingdom called Soli, ruled by Skarl's father, King Derrius XV and Queen Tial.

     What had happened to those days of peace? What happened to the kingdom, whole and undivided? It had broken into two clean halves.

     A knock at Skarl's door. "Your Majesty, it's time. Your carriage awaits you."

     "Do we have to go now?" the Skeith king asked in a low growl.

     "Yes, it's an important royal meeting! With your brother, nonetheless."

     "Fine. I'll be down momentarily for that meeting with my brother." He spat this last word out as though it tasted of rotten asparagus. And to his tongue, it did.

     "Very well," the servant said, closing the door behind him.

"I thought you'd never get here," King Hagan said haughtily as Skarl entered the green and white halls of Brightvale. "Punctuality is respectable, and a king must always be respectable."

     "I ran into some bad roads on the way," Skarl spat.

     "Brother dear, I'd advise you to keep an eye on your kingdom's roads! They're the byways of merchants and travelers! As I always say, 'all streets are paved with gold.'"

     "Well, due to Meridell's current financial situation, our roads are paved with dung."

     "Dearie me, brother! That dung would be better off in your fields!"

     It'd be better off in your face, Skarl thought, but he kept his opinions to himself. "It was a metaphor, Hagan."

     "Either mean it, or do not say it, brother. That is how promises are broken."

     By now, both kings' gazes were locked on each other. The Draik guards behind Skarl clutched their spears so tightly that their knuckles turned white. Not that they were expecting a fight; but when the air grows so tense that you can pluck it like a harp string, any guards in the area tend to clutch their weapons.

     "You should know a thing or two about broken promises," Skarl growled, his face as emotionless as stone.

     Hagan, on the other hand, was the very picture of innocence. "Why, whatever do you mean?"

     "You know what I mean, you pompous wretch. I'm talking about father."

     "Oh, yes! A noble man, father, but he did make some…"

     "I'm talking about you and father. When we were boys in Soli. Specifically, on your tenth birthday."

     The memories came flooding back in a torrent of broken hearts, broken glass. But Hagan remained just as stoic as his brother. "I still don't know what you're talking about."

     "Ten years old… you were growing up, Hagan. Daddy wanted you to take the throne after he was gone. That was the age when he started teaching you the ropes."

     "What, I don't recall…"

     "Don't interrupt. Anyway, Daddy said that a person's first duty was to his family. I was only four years old at the time. And he made you promise, Hagan! He made you promise that no matter what happened, you'd protect and guide me! That you'd be there for me! Well you weren't there, Hagan! You weren't there! So where were you?"

     The memories came flooding back again, slicing both kings. In the corner of their memories, in a place beyond space and time, a fire cackled. It burned through things, destroying them. Consumed fields, crops, homes, an entire kingdom. Stars of fire fell from the sky, shattering into a million tongues of flame once they hit the earth. And above those stars, high above the fire, an Eyrie laughed with insane joy.

     "You dare to drag up a piece of history that's happened ages ago?" Hagan asked, teeth clenched. "You dare to tell me that I've been less than a good and loving brother to you? And besides, father never said that about family. He said that a leader's first duty was to his people. And I protected my people by keeping them out of the war."

     "Did you? Use your head, Hagan. After all, that's what you're famous for. If we had lost, if Kass had taken my kingdom, do you think he would have stopped there? No! He would have become a mad conqueror, and returned with greater power than ever! But this isn't about that. This is about the fact that you have ignored me and my kingdom for the past three decades. Then, once you see how many tourists I'm getting, you sidle up to me and say, 'Brother dearest, how have you been? You know, with the exception of the fact than giant monsters are chewing your land alive.'"

     "Again, I'm looking out for my people, brother."

     Skarl's eyes narrowed. "A likely story."

     "Oh, don't be so selfish, brother!" Hagan said, rising from his throne. Was Skarl dreaming, or did he hear a touch of anger in the king's usually steady voice? "When you prosper, I would like to prosper too."

     "Aha, but when I suffer, you want no part of it."

     An awkward silence. No one dared to breathe.

     Except Skarl. "I know I've been something of a symbol of shame to you, especially since the break-up of our father's kingdom."

     "You broke it up, you twit! You were a selfish brat who loved nothing more than a feeling of power! You begged father for a piece of the proverbial pie. Well guess what, brother," Hagan sneered, "you got a piece of crust on your chin."

     "A metaphor? I thought you didn't like those."

     "Always the smart-aleck. Do you remember how you shamed the family name, Skarl? Taking more of the kingdom than was your share? And having no idea of how to rule it. A Mootix could rule better than you could. You're a disgrace to our father; to the entire family? Do you remember our sister, Skarl? Do you remember how she drank a Moehog morphing potion, became a sorceress and ran away?"

     Skarl winced. Yes, he remembered his sister. In fact, he remembered her more clearly than Hagan did. He remembered her hideously disfigured Moehog face peering down at him from a black Citadel in the sky. He remembered the way she raised her wand of nova in defiance and made the stars fall from the sky. He remembered her magical chant, like the coming of an apocalypse.

     "Meridell should have been mine, brother," Hagan growled. "Mine."

     Skarl looked at himself, at the rings on his fingers and the crown perched atop his head. None of it should have been his. And the king said three words he hadn't said in a long time. "I was wrong."

     Hagan looked up in surprise. Had his brother just…

     "I was wrong," Skarl repeated, "and I apologize. There isn't a day that passes in which I don't regret my actions! But that doesn't justify what you did to me. Or rather, what you didn't do. You knew my country was in danger, that my people were being trampled in the battlefields!"

     "You brought this upon yourself, thinking you could rule a country! Why should I help you?"

     "Because I need you. Because my people need you."

     "You deserved what you got. Helping you wouldn't be wise."

     "Always thinking with your head and never with your heart…" Skarl turned slowly away. "It was a pleasure meeting with you, King Hagan. Royal Highness. I deeply apologize for any inconvenience my visit may have caused. Come, guards. We'll be going now."

     When Skarl returned to the palace, he broke the stained glass window cleanly in two. On one side, the banner of Meridell waved. On the other, the flag of Brightvale. The sharp edges cut his paws, and a tear crept to the corner of his eye.

     And he cast both halves through the open window, where they shattered on the ground below.

The End