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Interwoven

FLAMES: PART TWELVE

30** th ***Day of the Shining Light, 30 AoE*

"My name is William, blood of Vothos, and I am afraid that I am here to kill you."

It took almost all that William had left to force himself up to his feet again. He just about buckled as he braced himself with his battleaxe, but managed to rise as his blood-father cast a disappointed eye in his direction. "Don't you dare."

"The die is already cast, William. His father cast it years ago." The older hyena twisted his sword slowly back and forth as he turned his eyes on Tobias again. "It _is_a shame, and I promise you that what pleasure I will take from your death will be small. Far smaller than I deserve, after all that I have lost thanks to you and yours."

"He has taken nothing from you." William growled as he stumbled; lifting the axe had proven almost too much for his exhausted body to handle. The stumble did send him to the side just enough to interpose himself between Tobias and his blood-father, so there was that much at least. They'd had a deal. William wasn't going to let the older male break it.

"No, he specifically has not." The older male smiled at his son, and William shuddered. What was he playing at? "Perhaps I misspoke. The Rathin tongue is so crude; so lacking in melody and nuance both. When I said that I would be killing him, I meant that only in the abstract. Only in that I am responsible ultimately for it." He waved his empty paw toward William. "You have been wronged. He has taken from you, my son. You will be the one to strike him down."

William snarled. "I will not."

"No? After all he has done to you? All the harm he has caused you?" His blood-father clicked his tongue and shook his head as William glanced back down at Tobias. The tiger remained on his knees behind him, looking up with confusion and sudden, new fear. Did he honestly think that William would do that? "Surely you of all people would relish the feel of his blood on your paws."

The kingsblade sneered as he turned back on the older hyena. Of course that was something his blood-father would have thought. "I only just now finished saying to Tobias that my soldiering days are well behind me after this. I don't want to feel the blood of _anyone_on my paws. Not ever again."

"Excuse me." The voice was Tobias' and it came as the tiger shakily rose to his feet behind William. He kept his eyes on the other hyena, though; if his blood-father wanted Tobias dead, he couldn't let himself get distracted. "Sorry. We're just discussing my potentially imminent demise, and I rather thought that I should have some say in it."

The older hyena's muzzle twisted, but it melted into a cool smile a moment later. "Of course. There is no reason to be so rude in the presence of royalty now, is there?" The greying hyena lifted his sword as William squeezed at the haft of his axe, but his blood-father didn't move to strike. Instead he slid it smoothly into its sheath as he stared at Tobias. "Are you satisfied, your majesty?"

Tobias chuckle drew a wince from William. He doubted that the tiger was viewing this as a game, but not taking his blood-father seriously would only make things worse. "Of course not. You wouldn't have sheathed your blade unless you were certain you could kill me without it. Confidence in your son, perhaps?"

"One option of many, I admit. Most wise." The bow of the commander's head seemed to be in earnest, but William still didn't lower his guard. The muscles of his arms began to burn with the weight of the axe, but he stiffened them as much as he could. He couldn't afford to drop it. "You know why I am here."

"I know why you are apparently here. You claim it's to kill me, but I doubt that's the real reason." Tobias stepped forward, and he finally entered the edge of William's vision. He twisted slightly so that he could both see Tobias and his blood-father at the same time. "You cannot possibly strike and hold Sanwell. Many more Ratholarin soldiers will reclaim the city before you can properly lay claim to it, so I wonder if you would share what your true goals are. Perhaps we can be honest with one another?"

"Now that right there is an idea, is it not? A fine one. Honesty is something I have not been able to express so openly in thirty years." The older hyena folded his arms as William issued a warning growl. He couldn't see his blood-father's paws. If he had a concealed weapon... "So then, let us be honest. I _do_wish to kill you."

"Well, that's unfortunate. Even now, I do not wish to kill you. I've killed more today than I ever want to again." Tobias shook his head as he waved up at the bell in the ceiling, still ringing away. The commander looked up at it for a moment, but William kept his eyes square on his blood-father. If he made any moves...

But they didn't come. Instead, when his head lowered again it was with a smile on his face. "It is nothing personal, your majesty, I promise you that. Now, if your father were standing there where you are, with the male who stole my wife and son from me between he and I, things would be different. I would, on a very personal level, have done absolutely everything within my power to rip the life from their hearts myself.

"But you are not them, and my son stands as your ward. This presents a problem, because I cannot - I must not - cause him to come to harm. Too much rests on the future he will help us to build; a future where Caris stands tall again, free of your rule." His arms unfolded as he pointed at Tobias. "One of two things will happen here, your majesty. You will cede Caris back to the Carisi, or I will take it from you by force. You will die. Your people will suffer. And then, when all is done, I will salt your lands and raze everything Ratholarin to the ground. I will strike you and your people from the world, and-"

"That's quite enough." Tobias held up a paw, and William watched as a spark of fresh anger and indignation touched his blood-father's face. He certainly wasn't used to being interrupted, and doubly not by Ratholarin royalty. "Please. I have heard your request, and I am ready to answer. Pray hear me well." He leaned forward, expression firm as his fur bristled. "I say to you now: no."

Silence reigned but for the toll of the bell. The older male lifted an eyebrow and perked an ear, as if surprised to have heard the word. Perhaps he was; William could scarcely believe he'd heard it himself. "Forgive me, your majesty; Rathin is not my native tongue. You told me... no."

"That's correct. I said no, and I say it again.No." Tobias shook his head as the anger continued to mount on the commander's face. "You know, you had me for a second. You spoke of not harming your son - by the way, you and I are discussing that later, William - and I was quite happy to listen to your request." He directed that little aside directly at the kingsblade, and William sighed as he nodded. If they survived, that would be a fun chat. "However, you went and undermined yourself with a critical negotiating flaw."

"And in the interest of bettering myself for the future, what would that flaw be?" The older hyena stood up taller, paws clasped behind his back as he stared Tobias down. He was seething, William could tell. It wasn't that he was being dismissed so casually, but that it was his enemy doing it that was boiling his blood. He could sense the anger rising, and echoes of it stoked the fire within William as well.

Tobias, perhaps ignorant and perhaps counting on it, simply smiled. "You issued threat. Against me is one thing, of course; I would expect nothing less." His smile slipped as he stepped forward again, beyond William's reach.

The hyena felt a flicker of panic. In his weakened state, Tobias was putting himself outside of William's ability to protect him! "If you had just asked for Caris, we could have discussed terms. If that was what you put forward, it would have been fine." The tiger's eyes narrowed as William's blood-father began to growl. "But you threatened my people. Thousands upon thousands of people who are innocent... and now I cannot be certain that you would honour any such agreement. _That_is your mistake."

The older hyena lifted his head higher. It was almost with contempt that he looked down at Tobias, though his gaze did flick briefly to William. Was it to gauge his son's strength? His capability of fulfilling his duty as kingsblade? "You pretend care poorly. Ratholarin royalty do not cater to the needs of the common folk. Your family line have proven this in abundance. It would be stupid of me to fall for such an obvious lie."

"There is no lie, but I do not expect you to be so understanding. You have lost so much." Tobias shook his head as his tone softened. "The lie is not mine, William, of the blood of Vothos, but yours. You are not here to free the Carisi. You are not here to restore Caris." Tobias touched his chest through his bloody robe. "If that happened it would just be a happy accident; a delightful side-effect of your success here. You are here for revenge, and you will take it however much it costs. I implore you, sir: if you mean to take my life, be honest about the reason. Show me that much respect, at least."

"Tobias." William said the name slowly, but the prince didn't turn back to regard him. He did catch the warning glance of his blood-father. If he wasn't careful, the tiger was likely to goad him into an attack. William's arms burned not with the fire in his heart, but with fatigue. "Step back. Please."

"I am not afraid of him. I am not going to be afraid of him. I refuse." Tobias kept his eyes locked on William's blood-father instead as the younger hyena sighed. "I will not let thousands upon thousands of Ratholarin people be harmed for the revenge of _one_person. You see what he is, William. You're too smart not to."

"My son knows well what I have lost, and for what reason I fight." There was a lick of anger that had slipped into the rebel commander's words, and William was sure the sound wasn't lost on Tobias as well. "You, however, are not worth the truth. You, who have lived your life in a castle surrounded by the spoils of the wars your forefathers raged, do not get to stand there and speak to _me_of innocent lives lost."

The growl that came from Tobias was deep and resolute and stunned William almost right to his core. From the way his blood-father recoiled, it was clear that he too was just as surprised at the sound of it. "I will speak of it, because I am not guilty of the sins of my forefathers. I have not committed those atrocities. I have not ordered wars against innocents. I have not joined campaigns to harm people, William, of the blood of Vothos. Nor, if I take the throne, do I have any interest in doing so.

"So if you seek to hate me, is not hatred of me you hold. It is the hatred of the deeds done of those who came before me, and for you to lay that at my feet before I have a chance to do anything to make amends, while_claiming that your cause is morally righteous enough to justify the deaths of the innocent is... it is _sickening to me." Tobias shook his head as the older hyena began to growl back at him. "So. That brings me back to my original response. No. I will not be ceding to someone such as you. Not your lands, not my life, and certainly not my people. I am, however, prepared to discuss the terms of your total surrender at this time." Tobias' eyes narrowed. "And that is a kinder offer than my forefathers would have made, I assure you. You would be wise to consider it."

The commander's eyes narrowed as his growl deepened. "You do not understand what you are doing here, your majesty. Provoking me is most unwise."

"Then let us be unwise." Tobias' paws shifted to his hips as he stood his ground before the glowering hyena. William would have been impressed in any other situation, but he knew better than Tobias not to underestimate the male before him. "You use violence to get what you wish. You demand absolute submission to your goal. You are willing to harm those who have done you no wrong to achieve it. What exactly about your methods separate you from the atrocities of my father? From my brother?"

Even as the older male opened his muzzle to reply, William beat him to it. Better to not give his blood-father a chance to speak. "He is right. The pain and suffering that you - that our people - have gone through is not justification enough to hurt innocent people."

"I do not need to justify myself or my people's actions to you, son." The commander's eyes flicked to Tobias, full of contempt as they looked the prince up and down. "Nor to you, a spoiled little brat who has lived fat off the agony of whole kingdoms. Who has benefited from the pain and suffering his family has caused for generations."

William shook his head, but Tobias beat him to a response. "What would you do, then?"

The older male glared. "I do not understand the question."

"What would you do? When you kill me, and presumably your son because you know_he is not going to go along with whatever it is you intend to do next... what _do you intend to do?" Tobias shrugged. "You must have goals. Plans. What happens once you kill me?"

"We take advantage of the crisis of succession." There was no smile on the face of the commander, just grim determination that hardened his eyes. "Your uncles will war for the throne. Ratholarin will be weakened by the crisis, and we will have a chance to rebuild Caris. Yaroven."

"And then?" Tobias shook his head once more as William's axe began to dip. The weight of it was growing far too much, and his body was far too exhausted from the fighting, the magic, and the wounds he had suffered. This had to end, and soon! "What happens after that? What happens once you have Caris, and the succession crisis is resolved?"

The hyena's head tilted slowly to the side, and his eyes flicked to William. William frowned back at him. He already knew the answer to the question. His blood-father knew it, too. "Then your people live. The Carisi live. The Yarovenni live."

William snorted even as Tobias shook his head. His blood-father knew that he knew the answer, yet still he tried that. The elder's head snapped to the side, fixing William with an intense glare. "You lie. That's not what you told me and that's not what you just told us you wanted to do. That's not what you and the elders were planning, is it?" His muzzle twitched with a brief snarl. "What happened to salting the earth? Razing Ratholarin to the ground? I thought you were going to be honest with him. But then, you promised me he would live, didn't you? What's one more lie, William?"

"So much for honest conversation, I suppose." Tobias sighed as he stepped back to bring himself alongside William again. "William, the blood of Vothos... thank you for your time and your words. I truly do appreciate them, false as they have been. It was very nice to meet you." He waved a paw up toward the hyena. "Now. Lay down your arms and surrender."

The elder hyena snorted. "You think you can defeat me?

Tobias just shook his head and heaved a tired sigh. "I'm hoping I won't have to. That you'll see sense."

For a moment, it looked to William like his blood-father was about to do so. It seemed for all the world like the older hyena was ready to surrender; to let that desire to see pain and suffering come to countless innocent Ratholarin citizens go. To let his quest for revenge go. To let all of that hate go.

Then he laughed.

It was a deep, wracking sound, almost a cough and almost manic with the energy and force behind it. He doubled over, clutching at his middle as he shook with it all. Tobias and William exchanged a quick glance. The prince looked as perturbed by the sound of it as William did. "You must forgive me; I did not mean to speak in jest."

The laughter died off, fading into a deep sigh as the older hyena lifted his head once more. The smile was slipping away as his muzzle curled the other way. "The mistake was mine, your majesty, to think of you as anything more than a joke." He reached to the sword sheathed at his side, and his fingers brushed along the hilt as William squeezed his axe tighter. "I am the blood of Caris. Caris does not surrender to the Ratholarin." His eyes locked on Tobias even as he raised his voice. "William. Strike him down."

Tobias didn't even turn his head. His kingsblade smiled tightly to himself. It had only taken a couple of decades, but he had the absolute trust of the prince once more. "William. Stand down and disarm. This is your final warning."

The commander's jaw tightened as an ear flicked. "You betray your father? You betray your kin? Your home? Your lineage?"

"My father is dead." William shook his head as he forced himself to stand up tall again, and the older male's eyes finally shifted to him. "My kin - my mother- is dead. My home is where my love is, and you forced him from me. And my lineage..." He shook his head as he raised the axe higher. His muscles burned. His heart burned hotter. "I don't give a _damn_about my lineage."

"So I _am_betrayed." He shook his head as his fingers closed around his sword's hilt. "Your destiny was to be the founder of a new line, William. Patriarch of a bloodline of warrior sorcerers. The glory of Caris, in service to the gods and the people." He shook his head and sighed; his sword slowly unsheathed as he drew it free. The commander brought it before him, his empty paw at his back as he straightened up. "If I must spill my own blood to see Caris restored... I am sorry, my son, but I _will_spill it."

"You're right about one part." William's head rose as he stared right into his father's eyes. Something was wrong. Something was off. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but the way his blood-father stood wasn't right... "Your blood _will_spill if you do this." He had a plan. He had something in mind; William just didn't know what it was. If he just had a moment more...

He caught it as a flash in the older hyena's eye a split second before it happened. It was a shift in the older hyena's shoulder, not at the end of his swordarm but the other. He stepped forward, axe extending even as his blood-father's paw came back around his body. The glint of iron - a small knife - shone in his grip. It didn't linger there long; the little flick of his wrist was enough to loose the blade right at Tobias' chest.

The thrust of William's axe slid smoothly before the tiger. The broadness of the battleaxe head served as a shield; it caught the spinning blade before it could strike the prince. It impacted the axe, bouncing off it right toward William. It spun across his arm, and the hyena was lucky that only the blade's grip struck him. It clattered off across the ground a moment later, but William was already moving. Only one paw was on his axe, after all.

In the other was a ball of flame.

That ball erupted as he flicked his paw forward. Much like the toss of the knife, the bolt of fire twisted through the air between the pair. Time slowed to an almost imperceptible crawl, and William was able to feel the flames as they shot between the two hyenas. The burn of it paled in comparison to the look of shock on his blood-father's face. Like he didn't even believe that William was capable of what he'd just done.

William spun around and lost sight of his father. He didn't see the bolt of flame land, and he didn't need to. He knew that his strength was failing, and the sapping of his energy at loosing even that much magic wouldn't let him do much more. He heard the impact; the cry of his blood-father at the flames burning his leathers and his flesh, and the stumble of his footsteps. William heard but didn't see them all.

Not until his pirouette ended with him right before the older male. There he could see that, much like Fredrick, his magical assault had been stopped dead. His blood-father's body had resisted the magic; whether his powers were active or dormant didn't matter to William. He hadn't counted simply on the fireball to do the job. No, it had staggered the rebel commander. That was enough.

His spin completed, William's battleaxe rose. His paws squeezed the haft tight as he roared and swung with all of his might.

The spin added more power to the blow in the wake of William's exhaustion. He knew he had one shot. He knew he couldn't fail. He knew that this male - his own father by blood - was willing to kill him, kill Tobias, and kill thousands of innocents just to see his vision of the future come to pass. He roared as his axe rose. The other hyena's sword desperately swung down.

But it was too late. The blade of William's axe slammed_into his blood-father's chest. It bit deep into him, through armour and fur and flesh, barely even stopped by bone. The force of the impact knocked the older hyena clear off his feet, and William stumbled as he lost his grip on the axe. His blood-father tumbled, almost knocked end over end as he snapped to the side under the weight of his son's blow. He hit the ground with an almighty_thud, and William himself soon joined him as what little strength he had left gave out in the wake of the strike.

A paw caught him before he could hit the ground. Tobias pulled William back from it, grunting and straining with the effort until at last he was able to turn William over and lay him down more gently against the stairs. William gasped, his vision blurring and tunnelling as he settled down. Every muscle felt like it was about to give out as the combination of physical fatigue, magical fatigue, and blood loss all conspired to sap consciousness from his grasp.

Still he clutched desperately to it, panting as he fought to lift his head. A wet gurgle reached his ears as his eyes fell on William, blood of Vothos. The older male was on his back, his head propped up by a rack that he'd slid in against. The head of William's axe was still buried firmly in his chest, and blood ran from his muzzle as he struggled to form words. William just shook his head weakly as he panted for breath. "I... warned you."

Another gurgle was the only response the older hyena was able to muster before the mortal wound took its toll. One final cough cleared his muzzle, but by then there wasn't enough breath left in him to speak. His last words died as he did, trapped in a blood-filled throat as he slumped limp.

William let his head lower in turn. He sighed as he allowed himself to lay against the cool, if soiled, stone floor. It was done. It was over. Relief washed over him and conjured a smile to his muzzle even as he shook his head against the ground. He could barely believe it. They had done it. It was all finished. Fredrick was dead. His blood-father's mission of revenge was without its greatest figurehead.

They'd done it.

A sigh from Tobias opened William's eyes. He glanced aside to see the tiger sat down on one of the steps of the vault, staring down at Fredrick's dead body. He looked as surprised as William felt, but there was no smile on his muzzle. Instead he simply stared and stared, almost unblinkingly at what remained of his family.

He realised that it was probably hitting him all in that moment. After the pain he'd suffered for killing the sentry to the vault, what must be going through the tiger's mind? "Tobias?"

He didn't look away from Fredrick's still face and the rage that had frozen upon it. "I'm alright. Really. Just..." He shook his head. "So much bloodshed. So much fighting. I don't... know how you do it."

"You just sort of... get used to it, I suppose." William grunted as he forced himself to sit up a little higher. Tobais finally turned to him then, and he shuffled closer to help ease William into position. "I'm kind of looking forward to getting _un_used to it."

"Yeah, I suppose you would." He hung his head low, and William reached up to heavily lay one of his paws on the tiger's shoulder. "I don't... know that we're that lucky, though. Not yet." As William cocked his head, Tobias looked back up the stairs to the vault entrance. "There's still rebels out there, attacking the city. Goodness knows where they all are, or where they'll all scurry off to." He frowned. "You might help with that."

William nodded slowly to himself. He doubted that Leena or the Carisi elders would accept Tobias on the throne. Maybe he could convince them. Maybe with his blood-father dead, they might see reason. Maybe, just maybe, there could be a proper peace. If not integration of the Carisi and the Yarovenni into Ratholarin, then the restoration of their lands. Their cultures. Maybe Eric's and Fredrick's damage could be undone... if they wanted more than the war his blood-father had sought. "Maybe. Yeah."

Tobias nodded as he looked over to the hyena. William met his gaze as he sat up higher. The tiger didn't look nearly as relieved as William himself felt. "I'll understand, you know. If you don't want to help hunt them down. I won't ask you to if you can't do that. I..." His eyes flicked to the side briefly, in the direction of the rebel commander. "I've... already put you in a position to kill your own father."

"Zane was my father. You know that." William sighed as he looked down at the dead hyena's body. Was it wrong, he wondered, that he didn't feel... anything, at the sight of his blood-father's corpse? Or had the horrors he'd intended to unleash been justification enough for his apathy? "William there? He might have been my father, in another life. Another time, when Eric never took Caris. But then... I'd be someone different, too." He tried a little smile as he turned back to Tobias. "I doubt you'd like me so much if he'd raised me."

The tiger nodded, and a hint of a smile touched his muzzle as well. It was a relief to see; the horrors of the day would etch themselves upon the prince for years to come, but that he could smile at all right then was a good sign. "No, probably not. I'm glad that I didn't get to meet that William. This one right here... he's a good person. The best person I've ever known."

William could only snort at that. "A kinslayer. Traitor to the crown. Traitor to my blood. Traitor to my birthright and people... both people. There's more blood on my paws than I'll ever be able to wash clean, Tobias. I'm not a good person."

"That is nonsense, and I hope you know it." The tiger shuffled closer and reached out his paw to William. The hyena almost took it, before he noticed which it was. It wasn't the prince's clean paw, but his bloody one. Fur was clumped together, stuck by the blood of the sentry and of his own brother, and yet he offered it to William nonetheless. "You have always tried to the right thing. Even when it's impossible, and even when there are no completely right sides. You have _always_fought for the betterment of others... every drop of blood you spilled was to that end, William."

The hyena sighed as he gently took Tobias' paw. It squeezed at his immediately. "I betrayed you. My king. And then I betrayed my father. My birth-people. Even if I was fighting for the right reasons, it doesn't change how much damage I've caused. How many lives taken, however righteous the cause."

"How many lives _not_taken. How many lives saved by your actions." Tobias' paw tightened again. "My brother's blood is on this paw, William. I killed him myself. My knife, in his throat, and my arm pushing it down." He shook his head, but even as he tried to maintain his composure William could see the tears that threatened to mist his eyes over. "I hated him with all my heart, but it... it wasn't hate that made me do it. I didn't _enjoy_killing him."

"You did it to protect people." William nodded and Tobias did the same, but the hyena sighed. "And does that make it feel better? Does that set you at ease?"

"No. No, it... it doesn't." Tobias closed his eyes, and a streak was left in the fur under one as a single tear rolled over his cheek. "But we knew what had to be done. We knew that this had to happen, not just for our sakes but for the realm. For the whole south sea. It won't change anything for us, but it _will_change things for everyone else. Hopefully, for the better."

William nodded along slowly as he rubbed his paw against the back of Tobias' paw. The tiger fell almost silent, but for an almost inaudible purr rumbling in his throat at the touch. He always had liked that. "You know, you're more wise than you give yourself credit for."

"Took a while to learn. I'm glad you were patient with me." Tobias leaned in close, and a moment later William felt the prince's lips gently touch his cheek. The kiss was soft and gentle, and he pulled back without pushing for anything more. "You're going to be alright, William. We both are. We both have to be."

"Too much depending on us for us not to be." William sighed. Tobias was right. They had to be ready. Tobias had a kingdom he needed to take the reigns of. Ratholarin had to be freed from the rebels that had been built up. Those rebels had to be given a chance to see peace... if such a thing was possible. It probably wasn't, but then William hadn't even expected to survive to see the end of the battle with Fredrick, and then his blood-father. "We'd better get to it."

"In a minute." Tobias leaned in against William's side, paw still wrapped tightly up with the hyena's. He closed his eyes as his head came to rest on his kingsblade's shoulder. "I know everything's still... crazy, out there, but I'm not ready. Not yet. I need a minute."

William smiled. He was exhausted and well past the ability to fight or use magic. The battles would be continuing outside, but that had to wait. There was nothing he was going to be able to do to stop it, not like he was. Not right then. He knew, on some level, that they weren't secure. The rebel forces would kill him. The castle's forces would kill him. If they found him, he was done for.

But he had nothing left. Their fate was in the gods' paws now. "A minute sounds fine. It sounds good."

He closed his eyes as he leaned his head against Tobias' and sighed. They'd earned a minute if they'd earned anything at all. The world could wait just one minute. The gods would give them their one damn minute.

Their fingers laced together as a minute stretched into eternity.