"Sometimes you just have to think about how many times someone you care about has hurt you before you finally don't care" - Unknown
Heaven finally opened it's gate and let the first rainfall hammer down cleansing the land of the caked dry summer dust, letting fauna and flora grow in its wake. I sat alone in the open corridor at night listening to the rhythm of the falling rain. I always hated the boisterous sound of heavy rain and thunder, yet today I surprisingly found it to be the perfect lullaby for slumber.
The windows slammed open inviting the storm into my room. The thunder sent shivers up my spine as did the lightning. The wind was ravenous, eating away at anything in its way. I hated how the wind could slip through cracks, crevices, and walls alike; tearing down any defenses that you could build until eventually it ripped asunder all that remains to its arche. I outstretched my weary hand to have a taste of the thunder, lightning, wind, but all I felt was emptiness.
"Your Royal Highness"
Awoken from my daze, I bore my eyes at Bernard. The old man had one foot in the grave for the past five years. He persevered through the pain, insisting on servicing me till his last breath. He adhered me because I picked him from the streets, but all I could discern was a man who would die with nothing to his name, robbed of the chance to be free.
"Her majesty asks for your presence."
Grabbing my walking stick, I limped my way inside the cathedral. I saw my mother perched next to my father's casket with tears streaming down her face. My father hardly looked dead. If not for the blood dying his olden armour, I half-expected his mouth to twitch in his sleep and be met with his familiar scorn when he opened his eyes. My father was good king, but it must be hard for a good king to be a great father.
To outsiders we were the perfect family, but inside closed doors life was very different. It started when I turned eight. My father had begun to beat me, kick me, and throttle me. He would throw me down the stairs in a fit of anger and throw me into a scalding hot bath when drunk. As a kid I always assumed that these acts were normal until I realized other parents would drown them in affection. I was an outlet for his anger. Sometimes, I wished that he would leave me to my devices and thrash my mother instead, but he loved her enough to leave her untouched. I saw my right leg out of the corner of my eye enticing me to burst out in anger.
I watched as my life fleeted right before my eyes. All I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat echoing under the water. I thrashed around stretching and pulling at anything that would end this torture.
My father held my head under the water watching as life left my body. He chucked me out of the water with a light throw. I coughed and heaved as I began gulping breaths of air as if it was water. I choked on my own blood as I was met with a kick to my ribs.
"Get up"
"I can't" I said in fear.
"Don't make me ask twice, boy!"
*Crack*
Three years had passed since he heard a squeak from me as I was beaten, but today was different; the pain was unbearable. All I wanted to do was scream and ball my eyes out, but when I opened my mouth my voice had left me.
"Presenting his Royal Highness" Bernard announced.
My mother peeked at me as she continued weeping. Out of fear of inviting harm to herself my mother would caress and sooth me as she pleaded to "keep quiet and be good, we both have to try our best to make daddy happy." I never misbehaved and followed my brother's example, but I could never make him happy.
"The most important thing in this world is family" my mother continued cooing "You make daddy happy in ways that your brother cannot. Be proud, Alexander."
She shoved these useless ideals down my throat and I ate all of them up. She said that blood is thicker than water, but the majority of my life blood hasn't been there at my times of need. I hated how she enabled my father to abuse me as a child, to be subservient to him will be my greatest regret.
I heard the door open behind me revealing my brother, who was followed by a dozen of the King's Guard.
"They have no place here." I said glaring at the guards ahead of me.
My brother grinned like a maniac as he said "Father's dead." He stressed each word as if I may not hear them "Isn't it time to choose a heir, brother?"
"If you cannot serve, you cannot rule" he continued "Let's face it brother, our people deserve a true king, not some cripple wannabe."
"A king should never cower to a master or any threats" I said coldly.
"Don't start a fight you cannot win" My brother said confidently.
"If I win I live, if I lose I die, if I don't fight I cannot win" I continued my charad.
"I'm bored of this, Kill him Joffrey"
Joffrey strutted to me as if I was another one of his assignments. I started to back away with my battered leg, but I suddenly felt a sword hilt punch me in my gut. I fell hard on the ground as I sensed blood traveling up my throat. I looked down to find a silver sword implanted into my chest.
"How does it feel to kill a king, Joffrey" I heard my brother say
"... ... Majesty" Said Joffrey
"Mother" My brother said "You … speak … … of this event?"
My vision began to blur as I heard a series of no's. I attempted to stay conscious, but it proved to be more difficult as time passed. If I didn't die of asphyxiation, I would most certainly die of blood loss. I have gotten so used to abuse and suffering that death felt weightless as if a thousand tons of fat were suddenly removed from your body. I closed my eyes entering my eternal slumber as if I was about to take a nap in my blood and I must say the rain was the perfect lullaby.
***System Activation Complete***