Apologies and A Dream

"Why are you here, Brie?" Nicholas asked as he offered her a seat and poured them some wine. His expression was cold and unmoving, making Brie wary.

"I came to apologize." Brie said as she kept her head hanging low, gone was the strong and demanding woman from earlier. Now she seemed afraid of Nicholas and he intended to test if this was how he normally treated his sister.

"Nicholas, you know it was all part of an act, I didn't mean to push it that far!" Brie frantically said, as if she was trying to save herself from execution.

"Why come to me, Brie?" Nicholas questioned her as he sat down across from her, handing her a chalice of wine.

"You know why." She said in a sad tone as she took a sip from the drink she was offered. Then her eyes went wide as her head snapped up and her eyes met Nicholas'.

"I thought-" Brie mumbled as she tried to speak.

"You thought I was the old me?" Nicholas asked as he was slowly getting a sense of what he was like before losing his memories and being trapped in that other world, the world without magic.

Brie nodded as she continued to watch Nicholas, something about him still scared and worried her. Nicholas could see how submissive she was compared to when they had first met, it seemed that she was hoping to gain the upper hand that time.

"You could still be, your eyes, they are angry." Brie pointed out as she looked at her brother, studying every action and every expression.

"Why did you come to me Brie? You could have sided with any of our brothers, but you are siding with me, the weakest." Nicholas questioned as he held her gaze, he could still see her fear. "What deal did we strike?"

When Brie hesitated, Nicholas glared at her, challenging her to lie.

"Brie, we both know that my memories are slowly returning, and eventually I will remember it all. What was the deal we struck?" Nicholas demanded to know.

"I would help you hide your powers and help you win the throne in anyway I could." Brie confessed. "In return, when you become king, you will take me as your first wife so that I wouldn't be pawned off to some kingdom."

Brie blushed at her words, catching Nicholas off guard.

He agreed to marry his own sister? How was that possible? Wasn't incest illegal in Merlen?

"You can't back out now!" Brie insisted as she looked her brother in the eyes, regaining some of her fiery attitude from earlier, making Nicholas smirk.

"I won't." Nicholas hissed as he tried to process the deal he had agreed to. How was he supposed to marry his sister? "You are forgiven. I understand why you had to do that, don't be so harsh next time."

Brie nodded and quickly left Nicholas alone in his room.

Nicholas lay on his bed for what felt like hours, thinking of the deal he had struck with Brie.

He combed his memories to see if incest was an accepted practice among the Kings of Merlen. All he could remember was that the Princesses of the Cruor line didn't usually live long. As sisters to the king, they still carried Cruor blood, meaning any offspring of theirs could be a possible heir to the throne.

He couldn't remember what happened to these princesses and decided to simply ask Dion the next day. If Dion had no answers for him, then he was sure he could find a history book somewhere that spoke of the Cruor Princesses and their fates.

Eventually, Nicholas drifted off to sleep. At first it was a dreamless one, there was nothing but darkness around him as it relaxed him.

Soon in the darkness he heard a voice.

"Stay hidden, keep quiet, no matter what you hear stay in here." It was his mother Liira, but Nicholas couldn't figure out what was happening.

"Open up!" A booming voice called as he heard banging on a door not far away.

"Open this door in the name of King Alexander III or Merlen." Nicholas recognized that voice, it was Freroy, the Kings cousin, his uncle.

"Nicholas, don't move, this will be over soon." A man's voice whispered to him as a name came to mind, Glenn.

"Brother, they will take him." Nicholas heard his mother practically sob, she was clearly in pain as the banging on the door continued.

"Lady Liira, we know you are in there!" Freroy growled from the otherside of the door. "Five years you've had us searching for you, five years the king has sent his best men after you. Come out, it's over!"

Five years? Nicholas couldn't help but wonder if his mother had run away from the King as soon as he had been born. If that was the case then unlike his royal siblings, he had not been fully raised at court and his childhood had been one on the run as a peasant.

"Tell Alexander that he can keep searching for another five years for all I care!" She spat out in a vicious and poisonous tone. He felt his younger version's shock and confusion in the memory.

He didn't know back then, he didn't know he was a prince and that his mother was married to the King. From what he could gather from his memory, in his mind he was just a peasant boy being raised by his mother and her brother as they moved from town to town.

"You know that we have this little mossy cabin surrounded, Lady Liira. Surrender." Freroy warned. "As you should know, I have every kind of mage in my regimen, among them are Belator and Natum mages, Warrior and Elemental mages. You and your companion do not stand a chance against us."

Nicholas' mother suddenly laughed like a mad woman, silencing the knocks and Freroy.

"General Freroy, do you really think I would go without a fight? I've evaded you and the king for five years, don't you think I have a back-up plan." She questioned the General, making him roar in anger.

From what Nicholas knew, the king would never let his mother be harmed, General Freroy would not be forgiven if she was killed or injured.

"Not this time, Lady Liira. If you do not open this door, I will order my men to disassemble this cabin log by log and I will have the man you are with killed. He should die for touching what belongs to the king!" General Freroy threatened, Nicholas could sense as the air around him became tense.

"Touching! Only the sick Royal Cruor Line engages in incest! This man is my brother!" Lady Liira screams, making General Freroy chuckle.

"Brother or not I will have him killed. So do you surrender, Lady Liira? Surrender, come back to the palace with your son and live the rest of your days in comfort with the King, that is all my cousin wants." General Freroy said, his tone was still as hostile as it first was despite him offering her a peaceful way out.

"Never!" Lady Liira hissed. "Tell Alexander he can have my dead body and that I've sent the prince away, do you think I would really travel with a child? He will do nothing but slow me down, hinder me."

Nicholas felt as his younger self's heart broke at his mother's words, he was too young at that time to understand that it was all a lie, a ruse to get Freroy to leave.

"You know as well as I that the king would have my head if I didn't bring you back alive and well, Lady Liira." General Freroy replied, clearly amused by the direction the conversation was taking.

"Liira, what if you went with him and I took Nicholas to a safe place with me?" Glenn suggested, Nicholas could feel his younger self's shock at the thought of being torn apart from his mother.

"I've considered that, and I do think it's the best option." His mother whispered to his Uncle Glenn, breaking the poor boy's heart even more.

Throughout the dream memory, Nicholas couldn't help but wonder what happened to this Uncle Glenn and why he was not among the ministers. Surely the prince's uncle would be qualified to be his minister?

"For Nicholas." His mother said as he sensed the cover to his hiding spot lift and the light seeped in. He was his mother's gentle features, no wonder the king had fallen madly for her, Lady Liira was prettier in this dream than in his memories.

She leaned down and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"I love you, Nicholas, never forget that." She swore before returning the cover again.

Nicholas felt as the memory ended, he tried his best to hold on, he wanted to learn more, but his mind would not let him.

He struggled, but to no avail.

Nicholas woke back up, panting in his room as the morning light entered through the delicate glass mosaic on the roof.

"Where is Uncle Glenn?" Nicholas muttered to himself as he flung his sheets away and dressed for the day.