Chapter 501

501 The Long Game

Magnus paced back and forth in front of his fireplace, waiting for his oldest son. He was supposed to be there at three, but it was already nearing five o’clock, and he still hadn’t shown up. As the King’s patience was about to hit it’s limit, the door to his bedroom opened.

As soon as his eyes fell on his son, his anger exploded; “Where the Hell have you been?! I summoned you almost two hours ago! I am your King, on top of being your father! What excuse do you have for being almost two hours late?!”

Marco smiled pleasantly at his father as he replied; “I apologize for my tardiness, Father. I was in a very important meeting with General Zas, then I had a previous engagement that I had put off for far too long already. Again, I apologize for being late, but it couldn’t be helped.”

Magnus was both unsettled, and infuriated by his son’s attitude. He seemed to be in an excellent mood, despite the fact that his father was obviously furious with him. Marco very rarely showed any emotion, let alone joy. If Magnus hadn’t been so angry with him, he might’ve ignored Marco’s transgressions just to see him stay happy..

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“You do realize that you missed your brother’s send off as well?! In fact you were the Only one not present! Even Lawrence and Shasta made it out to the harbor! Where were you?!” Magnus nearly screamed.

Marco shrugged; “I did see them sailing away from the windows.. Besides, it was probably a very pleasant farewell for them Because I wasn’t there. Despite your denial of the facts, Father, Tidas and I don’t really like each other.”

“Since when?!” Magnus bellowed with genuine surprise.

He knew that they didn’t always get along, but for Marco to say that they flat-out didn’t like each other was shocking to Magnus. All their lives, he had pressed upon them the importance of family. Even after he was betrayed by his brother, Magnus still stuck by his belief.. Until now.

Marco chuckled almost sarcastically as he leaned against his father’s bed post, and said; “Oh come now, Father.. How could you expect us to have any kind of brotherly bond when he has all the things I want..”

Magnus was stunned at first, completely taken aback by what his oldest son had just said; “What? What do you mean?”

.....

A small grin still played at Marco’s lips as he spoke; “Tsk, tsk, come now, Father. Look at what your golden boy has.. Two traits, a massive fortune mainly generated by the wife he Never should’ve had-”

“Two traits?! Tidas doesn’t-”

Marco barked a sharp laugh; “Oh, yes he does. Didn’t he or Skye tell you? It’s a Shaman trait. She’s teaching him to control it-well, trying to, anyways. He’s pretty thick-headed when it comes to magical application, which irritates me greatly considering his natural talent for his Tank trait. The fool wastes his potential..”

Magnus’ mind was reeling as he tried to think of a reason that Skye and Tidas would keep his second trait from him. It was odd for Tidas to hide anything, let alone an additional power that would only add to his overall reputation. The fact that Skye hadn’t told him either bothered Magnus as well..

‘She would only keep something like this from me for one of two reasons.. One: she simply forgot to tell me.. It’s not likely, but possible with Skye.. Two: Tidas told her not to tell me..’

As the thought crossed his mind, Marco added; “It’s fine now, though. I’ve already surpassed him in power a thousand times over. And Skye.. Skye will do what she’s told once they return from Sai.”

“What are you talking about?” Magnus asked, confused about why he was talking about Skye.

Marco chuckled lightly; “Oh! Sorry about that.. It’s just that I finally got the sealing stone neck chains for her and Tidas in today. I don’t want any marks left on her neck while I’m training her. I’m assuming that she’ll take quite some time to break, and I don’t want any scars. So I had hers custom-sized. Tidas’, I don’t really care about, and he’ll only need his until his trial-”

“What the Hell are you talking about?!” Magnus screamed, losing his temper; “Have you gone mad?! Training Skye? What does that even mean?! And Tidas-what trial? What are you-”

Marco’s grin grew wider; “His murder trial, of course. He poisoned you right before he went to Sai, and you’ll die in two days. When he returns, I’ll have an entire mountain of evidence against him. More than enough to lock him away with.. Then after I break Skye, she’ll testify against him for me..”

“What are you talking about?! Poison me?! Your brother would never do anything like that! What is this nonsense-”

Marco cut off his father mid-sentence with a harsh laugh, then said; “Nonsense, hmm? Well, I suppose it’s my fault that your mind won’t allow you to comprehend what I’m saying. Years of brainwashing you will do that.”

The utter shock that covered his father’s face in that moment was something that Marco had been looking forward to seeing for years. Not because he enjoyed seeing his father suffer, he had just been genuinely curious as to what he would look like. The years of manipulating and jumbling his father’s memories were slowly being reversed, and he was interested to see what would happen to his father’s psyche.

As flashes of forgotten time bombarded his mind, Magnus fell from his bed, and crumbled to the ground as he cried out in agony. His mind, body, and heart broke as his head was flooded with heinous memories of his oldest son. Servants coming to him beaten and bloody; begging for help only to be killed or tossed into the dungeons..

Reports filed by everyone from Tidas, to Marie, to random nobles about Marco’s behavior and violent tendencies. Conversations with him about things that he didn’t even remember knowing. And one particular memory that had instantly broken his heart..

Looking up at Marco with tears streaming down his cheeks, Magnus grumbled; “YOU! You had me order the Warricks wiped out?! Why?! How could you! You were only-”

“Ten or so? Yes, I know. They had knowledge that I needed, but wouldn’t give it up for anything. So I had to get rid of them and find it.. Turns out that Skye was all I needed, anyway..”

As countless moments of death and darkness clouded his mind, a massive pain surged through Magnus’ chest. He gripped at his heart as he rolled around and screamed. A servant that was bringing in the King’s change of clothes for dinner had instantly dropped the garments, and screamed.

Soldiers came rushing in as the servant yelled; “The King! He’s having a heart attack! Help! HELP! Someone call a doctor!”

As if on cue: Doctor Stein came rushing into the room. He immediately shooed away the guards, and checked the King’s vital signs as his face went red, and he passed out. The last thing Magnus saw as he closed his eyes was a dark smile on his oldest son’s lips..

Guards panicked and yelled to one another to go and find Doctor Gohan, but Doctor Stein stuck his arm up in the air as he called out; “Doctor Gohan won’t be able to do much for the King! He’s not having a heart attack! He’s been poisoned!”

As the guards and gathering servants all started to mumble and gossip, Marco took a calming breath..

“My people, this is no time to panic! I want my Father’s quarters put on lockdown! I want General Zas here to take the lead on any investigations that need to be done! I want every servant and guard questioned, and every person who has interacted with my Father within the past twenty-four hours to be tested for traces of poison!”

“Whoever has attempted to hurt my Father will pay with their life! Now Find Them!” Marco finished with a fake emotional tremble in his voice.

It was all an act, but an extremely convincing one. Since Marco hardly showed any emotions, it was impossible for most to tell if he was being sincere or not. The only one who would’ve known was Magnus, and he had fallen unconscious from the pain.

Recalling every evil deed that Marco had done both through him, and in front of him had broken his father’s heart and mind. Sorcha and almost her entire family had been wiped out overnight by unknown assailants.. And they had turned out to be his private guards: acting under his orders.

Magnus’ heart couldn’t take the pain and guilt, so his body shut down. If Doctor Gohan was able to examine him, then he would figure out that the King hadn’t been poisoned almost instantly.. ‘Good thing he’s one of the people that my Father interacted with on the docks..’

As the thought crossed Marco’s mind, Draco came into the room. He quickly bowed to his King, then spoke quietly and quickly; “The armies will be in place tomorrow, and we have eyes on your brother and his family.”

Marco grinned; “Good. Shasta is no fool. As soon as she hears that my Father is incapacitated, she may try to get my brother to escape back to his kingdom with his children until Father recovers. I need those two brats to guarantee his government’s support..”

“They may side with Him if I don’t have them And Shasta. Do not lose track of them, Draco.. Or I might take your favorite toy away,” Marco threatening with a serious expression.

Draco grinned cheekily; “Oh no, Sir. I’d never let that happen. She’s my main source of entertainment.”

Marco nodded as he watched several guards pick up his father, and place him back on his bed; “Good, now go. Spread the news of the treachery that has befallen my Father. And make sure to gather everyone that was at the docks. They need to be tested for poison..”

Draco grinned, bowed, then left as Doctor Stein shooed everyone else out of the King’s quarters. He said that he needed to test everything in the room, to narrow down the poison’s possible sources. Doctor Gohan’s specialty was healing, but Doctor Stein was known for researching poisons and their effects.

When Tien tried to get in to check on the King, the guards refused to let him in. He was the King’s personal doctor, and should’ve never been refused, but with the Crowned Prince calling the shots..

As Doctor Gohan walked back towards the stairs, he saw Marie rushing towards him. As they met in the hallway, and Tien told Marie what Marco was doing, a sinking feeling filled her entire being. When the doctor asked what was wrong, Marie sighed heavily..

“I just find it very suspicious that Magnus is poisoned the day that Tidas and Skye leave. I can’t help but get this feeling: like this was all planned.. And that something very bad is about to happen..”