I will be Queen

I Learnt Something New

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." Carl Bard

~~~

I look at each of my eight brothers, all standing in a line.  My first brother Alaric, second brother Murdoch and eighth brother Sandor all have dark brown hair.  First brother Alaric is the crown prince and dies one year after I leave.  He is competent and incredibly smart.  Second brother Murdoch is a real playboy.  He tends to have fun and doesn't listen to father at all.  Eighth brother Sandor is rather protective of me, though I'm not as close to him as I am with ninth brother Alexander.

Third brother Leod and sixth brother Brutus have red hair.  Third brother Leod is very hot-tempered, much more than sixth brother Brutus.  There is a difference between the two, though.  Third brother Leod is sweet and kind, and a protector.  Sixth brother Brutus is cruel and calculating.

Fourth brother Clement, seventh brother Milan and ninth brother Alexander have blonde hair, and fifth brother Rai has black hair like mine.  Fourth brother Clement is very cold.  He is the intellectual one, with his thick glasses and knowledge of the law.  If he wore contacts, he would look very handsome.  Seventh brother Milan is the quiet one, always reading books and hiding.  He's too sweet, and gentle to hurt others, and is quite sickly.  Fifth brother Rai is the peacemaker.  He's the only one my brothers listen to because he can be quite scary when angered.  He is the most dangerous of all my brothers because I can't tell what he's thinking.  All my brothers have my midnight blue eyes.

After father walked past them, I curtsey.  "Good morning, older brothers.  I hope you have all been well this past fortnight."  Only eighth brother Sandor, third brother Leo and seventh brother Mil glance at me.  The rest leave without a backward glance.

"Good morning, Adi," eighth brother Sandor smiles.

"Eighth brother Sandor.  How have you been?"

"We're fine, Adira.  What we should be asking, is how are you?" seventh brother Mil asks.

"I'm perfectly alright.  I'm much better now."  My smile is very bright and cheerful, the complete opposite to how I was feeling.  Yes, I did love my three older brothers, but I wanted to start my plan and to do that, I needed to get into first brother Alaric's good books.  "I want to know how first brother Alaric is...I want to know more about him and what he has to do as the crown prince..."

"Why do you want to know that?" third brother Leo asks in confusion.

"Because I will eventually be sent off in a political marriage.  I want to know where I'll be sent off to, and first brother Alaric is the one who will know first."  I look at them with wide eyes.

"How do you know that?" ninth brother Xander asks.  He looks murderous.

"Fourth brother Clement said so."

"Why would Clement say something like that?"  All four of my brothers were angry.  I couldn't help by smile warmly at their concerned faces.

"He said that I need to act more like a princess because one day, I will become another Kingdom's Queen or another Prince's concubine."

"I will not let you become some Prince's concubine.  You are my precious little sister.  I will not let father use you like this."

"I don't want to be used..." I say sadly.  All those memories of Asmodeus came back in a rush.  "Big brothers, how do I stop this?"

"One of us will have to become King, or you, yourself, become Queen."

"Queen?  But that's never happened before!"

"It actually has, Adi."

"I was never taught it."

"That's because it's a dark part of history no King wants to remember.  No King wants to remember the fact that all the Kingdoms were run by Queens at some point because the women rebelled.  No Kingdom wants another rebellion.  The worst part about it is that we were taught men are above women, yet women were once rulers of the Kingdoms.  If the Queens didn't just have sons, and no daughters, the rule would have remained under the grasp of women."  My eyes widen at the thought.  A Kingdom run by women.  That would be paradise.

"That sounds like a woman's paradise," I sigh.

"Exactly, which is why you weren't taught about it.  It's so you don't have any thoughts of taking the throne."  My eyes harden slightly.

"Who was the Queen of Australia?"  I ask curiously.

"It was during the blackout period.  You remember there was a blackout period for all of the Kingdoms?  It was during those blackout periods that the Queens were in power."

"Those blackout periods were a rather long time."

"Yes.  It's nearly 100 years, isn't it?  That's because the Queens were so vigilant, it was too hard for them to be assassinated, so they lived longer."

"Wow," I sigh.  "I can't believe I learnt something new.  It's all so much to take in."

"I know, right?  Our moms are always trying to make us take the throne, but I don't want it.  I don't think many of us really do."

"Who wants the throne then?"  I was curious as to who wanted the throne apart from Brutus.

"I'd say...Brutus is the one who wants the throne the most...Then probably Clement and Alaric."

"But first brother Alaric is expected to take the throne since he's the firstborn..."

"Just because he's firstborn, doesn't mean he is going to become King.  Father actually likes Brutus more than Alaric."

"Why does father like sixth brother Brutus?"

"Because Brutus has the drive to kill the rest of us."

"Then father would hate second brother Murdoch."

"That's right.  Father is forever disappointed in his second son.  Murdoch's actually the hardest brother to kill."

"Why is that?"

"Because he's probably the most skilled out of all of us."

"He's...skilled...?"  All four of my brothers look at me in surprise.

"You didn't know?" Ninth brother Xander asks.

"Know what?"

"Murdoch is more skilled than both Alaric and Brutus.  On top of that, he's smarter than Clement.  Father actually wanted to make him the crown prince, but Murdoch declined."

"So that's why second brother Murdoch acts like a playboy."  My brothers nod.  "So why doesn't he want the throne?"

"Because he hates the idea of being tied down by responsibilities," third brother Leo sighs.

"He's always wanted to travel around the world," eighth brother Sandor adds.

"And he truly is a free spirit at heart," seventh brother Mil chimes in.

"...Doesn't that make him the perfect person to help me gain the throne?"  My four brothers look at each other in surprise.  They hadn't actually thought of going to second brother Murdoch for help.

"You're right," they say in unison.  I suddenly realise we were still standing outside, and it was getting pretty chilly.  I shiver.

"Um...big brothers... I would like to go inside now.  It's getting pretty cold."

"Oh, right.  Sorry, Adi.  We didn't realise we were still outside," seventh brother Mil says with a wry grin.  They quickly hustle me into the castle.

Although I said it was a castle, our home is actually just a huge white house.  It's 300 metres long and 300 metres wide, has a floor area of more than 250,000 square metres and contains 4,500 rooms, but most of them aren't actually being used.

My room is in the south, where I can see part of the nine hectares of native gardens.  It is absolutely breathtaking, and I wouldn't change the scenery.  Mother doesn't like my room where it is because it's too exposed.  Assassins could easily hide behind trees or bushes, and I'd be killed before I knew it, but I genuinely don't mind.

My brothers and I head to eighth brother Sandor's room, which is to the east.  From his room, you can see more of the nine hectares of garden, along with some stone lion statues that seem to come from the Kingdom of Asia.

"Can you tell me more about second brother Murdoch?  I want to get along with as many of our other brothers as I can...though I don't think I can get along with sixth brother Brutus...or fourth brother Clement..."

"I don't think any of us can get along with Brutus or Clement.  They're just too cruel and cold for us.  It's like we're not even family to them. Only some business associates or enemies."  Seventh brother Mil looks a little sad at the thought.

"I think killing Brutus would be the best," eighth brother Sandor sighs.  The other three nod in agreement.  I frown, feeling somewhat troubled.

"I don't want to kill any of our brothers."

"We don't either, but Brutus is cruel.  If you take the throne, he won't stop trying to hurt you."

"He may be bigger and stronger than me, but he's not smarter than me."

"He's smarter than you think, Adi," seventh brother Mil warns.  We reach eighth brother Sandor's room.  This is the first time I'm entering one of my brother's rooms, and I'm feeling incredibly excited.  We all enter one at a time, third brother Leo coming in last.

"It's spotless," I say with wide eyes, as I glance around.

"Of course it's spotless," eighth brother Sandor huffs.

"We do have maids, Adi," third brother Leo reminds me.

"I know, but it's cleaner than my room, and I also have maids."  My brothers were about to say something when we hear someone clearing their throat.