We had been struggling.
Not just physically—though the training left bruises that didn’t fade for days—but emotionally, mentally. The weight of leadership was heavier than any blade we’d ever held.
For the first time in our lives, my brothers and I weren’t being waited on. We were the ones hauling stones, patching defenses, reinforcing the walls that had once been symbols of luxury. It was humbling, exhausting… and oddly fulfilling.
And somewhere along the way, without even realizing it, we stopped trying to outshine each other.
We started working together.
The men who once mocked us as “house pets” now stood beside us like equals. They taught us how to endure, how to protect, how to lead by example—not birthright. We bled beside them, laughed beside them, failed in front of them. But
