The Brother's Reunite
Today is a momentous day.
No, it's not the day of your father's funeral yet. You need more time for word to reach foreign dignitaries and for them to respond. Someone might actually want to come and pay their respects to the old prick.
No, instead, today is the day your brother arrived home. It took a week to make sure there were no incursions from the Saraqustans. You can't leave your most important line of defense without a castellan in these times. But that has now been taken care of. A suitable temporary assignment has been arranged and now Ramon can stay for some time.
It's been too long since you've spent some actual quality time with your brother. The man did not like to visit the capital. You can't blame him. Fortunately, the reason he didn't like to visit is now dead.
Your whole family eagerly awaited to receive him. Uncle Enrique and his family, Maria and her family, and of course your mother who has left the 'safety' of her room for the first time in days. A grand feast was thrown in honor of his return. The hall was packed to bursting with nobles, merchants of adequate status, and even a handful of mages who happened to be passing by. The wine and food flowed freely and the music and laughter filled the hall.
It was all well and good but neither you nor your brother were ever one for parties. The two of you sought out the first quiet place you could find and went off to catch up.
"I cannot tell you how good it is to be away from all that," Ramon groans as he reclines against a railing. The two of you have sauntered off to a balcony overlooking the courtyard. You can see some of your retainers and servants dancing and drinking below while eating the leftovers. "Good wine at least," Ramon remarks.
"I thought you might appreciate a change of pace after so much time spent in the castle," you state, swirling the wine in your silver goblet. Ramon never liked the rubbing elbows aspect of parties when you were younger but the man liked good food and music as well as anyone.
"It was nice to eat well for once. I just can't stand the games people play. The castle makes sense. It has rules. Order. It is a machine. Out here, out in the real world, people are free to be... annoying," Ramon grumbles as his fists clench. He got a little heated earlier from the constant marriage talk. You're still young and have years to decide, but the court seems determined to marry you off tomorrow.
"Tell me about it," you reply. "The council has brought up on three separate occasion my marriage status."
"Hmph. At least you are the king. Who am I to marry with my sorry lands and my modest post? No one worthy, I say. I would rather marry a woman whose station befits my ambitions at forty than marry now to a one I plan to outgrow," Ramon rants and leans more of his weight against the wooden railing. The beams creak and groan under the stress and you step a little closer to catch him just in case something should break. Ramon stares out into the sunset for a long moment before speaking again, his tone a little calmer. "I can't believe he's actually gone. Did it hurt?"
You shake your head, "He was dead within a minute. The Archon says there was no pain."
"Tch," Ramon throws his silver goblet in a rage. It flies a good three dozen feet and cracks against a roof shingle of the stables. "That's a fucking shame."
"I couldn't agree more. I am not a man prone to anger like our father, but when I see our mother moping about for the bastard, I want to throttle her."
"Gods, I want to throttle her already. I don't know how you've managed a week and a half of the shit."
"Avoiding her mostly," you confess, "She hasn't exactly come out of her room so easily."
"I'd like to go in there and give her a good smack across the face," Ramon growls, his fist pounding against the wooden railing.
Your brother's temper has worsened significantly since you last saw him years ago. And yet you've no idea why. You've been gone for so long pursuing your education at the Grand University. "I'm sorry for leaving you behind."
Ramon snorts, "No, you're not. You couldn't wait to get away. And I don't blame you. It wasn't so terrible afterwards anyway. Father sent me away to go squire for Uncle Ansur."
You suck in sharply sympathetically. "And how was that?"
"Better than here. Uncle Ansur is a man far too in love with beating himself to turn his hand toward anyone else," Ramon chuckles.
You smile at that, "How many times did he try to convince you to take a vow of celibacy?"
"At least once a day while he was whipping himself bloody," Ramon laughs, "He did not succeed, however."
"Heh. Good for you."
Ramon nods, "And yourself?"
"Hm? Oh, yes, well, I had some flings at the Grand University, but they were... the Grand University is not a place where you can afford to be distracted. I only narrowly passed my True Magus test before my tuition ran out," you explain.
"Pft. I could never. I think I would go mad having to study for a decade and a half with such diligence," Ramon shakes his head and takes a seat at a bench along the balcony.
You join him, taking a seat beside your brother. "I suppose if you view it like work, it would be miserable, but for me learning magic was its own reward."
"Hm... you've always been the genius of the family. Tell me, do you really think father was poisoned?"
"It is the working theory of the council and the official stance of the kingdom, yes. We've had no proof thus far and have no leads either. All the servants have been thoroughly questioned and investigated. Our household knights have sworn oaths of their innocence. Personally? I don't believe he was poisoned."
"So the story about Saraqusta doing it was a fabrication?"
You nod, "It will rally the country to war."
Ramon grins, his eyes sparkling in the evening light, "Perfect. I must ask, though. Are you confident we can succeed? Our father tried for decades to subdue them and neither you nor I are the Devil of the Central Plateau."
You shrug, "Our father was not a mage king. To my knowledge not a single mage in Alfida or Saraqusta are my match. If they meet me in the field, I will turn the tide. That is why father paused his penny pinching long enough to send me to the Grand University after all. And besides, he's left us an impressive warchest. I intend to use it. So far I've ordered improvements to our infrastructure but I have also considered hiring mercenaries to bolster our forces."
"Mercenaries... yes. That could be useful," Ramon's eyes go distant as he thinks, "Did he really leave that much?"
"Ramon, I will show you. It is an obscene number of silver coins," you promise.
"Enough to swim in?"
"You may try. Come," you lead him off the balcony and toward the royal treasury. You've been keeping the door locked, the key around your neck at all times. You pull the necklace out and unlock the heavy stone door, letting the iron bar swing free. The two armed men guarding the place look queerly at you and your brother drunkenly stumbling in, but it's your treasury. You can do what you want with it, and what you want is to swim in a river of silver with your little brother!