A Queen's Sacrifice

Once again, the Princes were shocked into silence. The only sound was Candi, choking on her bite of asparagus.

"That's (cough-cough) That's Dante's Mom!!!" Candace hacked out.

Dante's face was pale but he did not look surprised. The other Princes however, looked as if they were ready to fall out of their chairs.

"You already knew, didn't you Dante." Ray Torra chuckled.

"Of course I knew.' Dante's deep voice grew hoarse. "I've always known because Mother made sure to drill into me every day that I was the child who was supposed to have been the shining glory of the empire."

He glanced over at Byron with emotionless eyes.

"I was born before Byron, to the Avgo winner, but always had to take second place to him because of my mother's lowly social status."

Byron's eyes were confused and hurt at the same time.

"Dante…" He sighed and sank his head into his hands.

"Dante. I never knew. I would never have taken anything away from you. We're blood brothers."

"Of course, I know that you didn't know." Dante's eyes were tragic. "None of this has anything to do with our generation. We were simply the products of all this chaotic mess."

He looked over at Ray Torra.

"All the visuals show Clarissa as the Avgo winner. How did you get your hands on that visual?"

"This is the original." Ray smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"The one that got dispersed and shown to the trillions and trillions of people across the galaxy are the 'fixed' ones where Anastasia was taken out, to be replaced by Clarissa."

Dante's eyes narrowed. "And Mother agreed to be replaced?"

"Of course. She agreed to that because she had no choice." Ray Torra pointed at Dante.

"You see, Dante, she was already pregnant with you when she started the Avgo competition and the rules of the day was that an Avgo contestant cannot be pregnant. The child has to be very clearly the Crown Prince's spawn, AFTER their marriage."

Lucas slammed his hand on the dining table.

"That's absurd. We all know Dante is our blood brother. He is our father's child!"

"Tch. Tch. I never said he wasn't." Ray clicked his tongue. "He is absolutely Rex's child, and in fact, is the Emperor's first-born son."

"But to qualify to win the Avgo event and become Empress, Anastasia would have had to abort the fetus, which meant YOU," he pointed to Dante, "would have never been born."

Slate slapped his forehead. "So that's why Father told me not to touch the Avgo Female. He knew that if she were to get pregnant, she would have to either abort the child or forfeit the crown."

"And why would Father have to say that to you, Slate?" Jared turned an accusing eye at Slate.

"Because he knows Slate is the horniest beast out of all of us brothers." Lucas rolled his eyes with a small sad laugh.

Slate stared at Lucas with a touch of recrimination.

"I have never done anything to deserve that 'horniest beast' label. Just because I am 'physically large' in certain parts of my body doesn't mean I'm a vulgar person who forces myself on a woman."

Candi closed her eyes and shook her head. Things were happening so fast, she didn't know what to think.

"So the Emperor and the Royal Consort Anastasia must have been lovers even before the Avgo Event started." She muttered.

"It's the only explanation that would make sense since Dante was born a full six months before Byron, yes." Ray Torra nodded.

Leonardo shook his head. "How was it possible for the Empress to change Byron's birthdate to reflect that he was born six months before…oooooh…" Leonardo nodded with understanding.

"What? How?" Lucas asked.

"Erenveil Birth Certificates cannot be faked, it can only be annotated. She merely switched names on the birth certificates in the same manner we would use to legally change our names. This means—"

"His birthdate is mine and mine is his. Yes." Dante finished with a grim smile.

"Wait." Byron held up his hand. "How is it possible for all this to have happened and none of us know anything about this? How is it that Father could have agreed to all of this?"

Byron looked around at his brothers. "He must have known that a six-month-old son had all of a sudden turned into a new-born and a new-born had been changed to a six-month-old."

Ray Torra sighed. "Of course he knew. Your Father may be crass and obnoxious at times, but he is not a stupid man. He had to agree to much of the Empress' demands just to secure a few of his own demands."

"Demands?"

"Yes. Empress Clarissa got the Empress chair. In return, the birds left Anastasia's world alone, and Dante gets to live and grow up to be the man he is today."

Ray Torra nodded. "Normally, the insectoids are left alone since they are able to defend themselves, but for some reason, Anastasia's world is located within a tiny pocket of space that is mostly surrounded by bird worlds."

"She gave up her crown to protect her world and her son. She is a very noble Queen." Ray Torra finished.

Byron stood up. "I need to speak to Father."

Ray Torra took another drag of his pipe and coughed. His eyes shifted over to his right side.

"You might as well join in the conversation, child. It is time to set straight what all of you kids have subverted all these decades. The young ones deserve an explanation and it needs to come from you."

Beside him, the 3D image of the Emperor suddenly appeared. He no longer seemed so jovial, so full of bombastic energy.

"Father. Is it true, all this that Ray Torra said?"

The Emperor looked at his son and reluctantly nodded.

Byron's face paled. And then flushed a bright angry red.

"So I'm not even the real Crown Prince." He shot an angry look at the Emperor. "Am I even your biological child?"

The Emperor sat there, silent and unmoving.

Byron's eyes grew incredulous. Why was Father not even acknowledging this simple fact?

"So I'm not even your biological child? How is that even possible???"

Dante stood up slowly and with purpose. He moved towards Byron until he was within arm's length.

"You are his biological child, Byron. Never doubt that. The only thing you are NOT is Empress Clarissa's child."