How Familiar - 4. Ellis - Destiny

He assessed his competition with the blue eyes of Alae. He smirked when he saw the heavy armour and the giant Zweihander sword in his opponent's hands.

I will dance circles around this clown, he joked to Nulli, the beautiful red feathered Unicorn-Pegasus hybrid by his side. He doesn't stand a chance.

Luckily this isn't a duel to the death, Nulli agreed, swinging his dangerous, sharp horn around and attempting to stick Ellis with it. With blinding speed, Ellis parried his Familiar's attack and pointed his rapier at the shiny red neck with an arrogant grin on his handsome face.

Very lucky, hmm? Ellis cockily agreed and laughed heartily out loud. Nulli seemed to smile at him, his eyes beautiful, round and blue. Just like his Human's.

Give the crowd a show, Nulli reminded him, and Ellis nodded. The queen knows you can decimate your opponent. That's not what she's here for.

Oh, trust in me. I will give her a performance nobody will soon forget.

Ellis rolled his eyes and admired the ornate blade in his hand. A gift from Queen Erika Ode for his eighteenth birthday some months ago. The beautiful purple handle of Odesh and a long, steel blade coloured the blue of Alaeyas and the eyes he shared with his Familiar. She was in the audience on a small throne to signify her status, but she was mingling with the commoners. She had a passion for duelling. She was the best of her time in singles bouts, but Queen Erika was getting older and slower now, going through the womanly change in her mid-fifties. She was many things to Ellis. Foster mother, trainer and mentor. He gave her a nod, and she returned it with a small smile. She was here to watch him win. She was proud of him.

"Are you ever going to use that fucking toy?" His loudmouth opponent, as uncouth as he was tall and broad, spat on the ground. Charming.

"I don't know if I'd call it a toy," Ellis quipped back at him as he twirled the dazzling, jewelled handle around his fingers, drawing laughs from the crowd as he posed for them. "But I will fuck you with it."

Without waiting for the signal for combat to begin, the man swung his sword at Ellis. Ellis felt Nulli moving and did not even turn to face his would-be killer. Nulli's horn, hard as diamonds and deadly sharp, parried the blow for him and shoved him away with his brute strength. Ellis took several feint pokes with the fine blade he equipped to show both the crowd and the uncivil mad how many times he could have fatally wounded the attacker before posing again for the fans. Queen Erika's face was dark, though. She lectured him relentlessly about his need to showboat. I'll be in for a big talk later on, he thought grimly, focusing now on the fight ahead of him. Beside the behemoth of a man, a dog almost the height of Ellis bared its teeth. Ellis did not let himself be intimidated, though. I am the Crown Prince of Alaeyas and the heir of Odesh. You are nothing.

"Move to disqualify Reziv Quorti from the competition!" Someone in the crowd yelled. "He tried to kill the Prince before he was ready to fight!"

I'm always ready to fight, Ellis wanted to gloat, but he did not for fear of inviting Queen Erika's wrath.

"I don't think that is necessary," Ellis said instead, opening up his arms. He was a solid man. Eighteen and a half, a body forged by the Goddess herself and trained in the duelling arts by the legendary Queen Erika herself. "Let him be punished by facing me."

The fans began to clap, and Ellis looked up once again at Erika. She wasn't as unhappy this time. Good. I made the right call. This wasn't a fight to the death at all, but any man or woman who managed to kill Ellis would be hailed a legend, no doubt, even if they were put to death for it. He was the jewel of Odesh. The Queen's favourite of four sons, even though he was not born to her.

"So be it," Jian, the woman in charge of the games, nodded. Her Familiar, a scaly Komodo Dragon, hit the purple gong with his tail, and then the match was on.

Ellis never understood why fighters wore such heavy armour or why they didn't respect how much damage an elegant, pointed rapier could do. The Goddess herself forged the weapon for him, it seemed. He effortlessly parried, dodged and ducked and struck the Zweihander wielding moron dozens of times, making sure to make as big a fool of the idiot as he could. He even went so far as to visibly yawn in the middle of the fight, causing his foe to charge recklessly with rage and attempt to cut the young man in half at the waist. Ellis, quick as a snake, fell to the ground underneath the massive blade and used his leg to sweep the man off his feet. The fellow came crashing down hard on the sand underneath them, and Ellis ran up and kicked the man's head like a ball from the games he used to play with his foster brothers. Blood and broken teeth spilt from the man's mouth and his enormous dog whimpered in pain.

"Do you concede?" Ellis asked, pointing his blue, shining blade at the man's chest. He wasn't even out of breath, but the poor soul on the ground was utterly winded, blood oozing from his mouth and sweat trickling from his armour. There's a reason they call me the Horn of Odesh, and it's not because of what I'm packing in my undergarments. "Or do I fuck you with my toy?"

"I concede," the man moaned in pain and Ellis arrogantly put his foot on the man's chest, revelling in the cheers from those in attendance. When he looked to Erika, she was looking impressed. Nice.

"The Horn of Odesh, still undefeated!" Jian cheered from the sidelines, and her ugly overgrown lizard banged its tail against the gong once more.

"Anyone want a turn with the Horn?" Ellis roared to the crowd, and nobody stepped up. That's what I thought. He turned back to Nulli, who pawed the ground in joy at his Human's victory.

Every time, these damn fools, Ellis said with a grin. It's a shame they don't let you have a turn, Nulli. You're more than a match than any of these jokers. I bet you'd have an undefeated streak of your own.

We'll never know, will we? Nulli grunted as Ellis sprang up and landed on his back.

He spread his wings when Ellis hugged him around his neck, and he took off. Ellis didn't want to walk back to the Palace like his foster family would do on the backs of their Unicorns. He was better than that. He was Alaeyan, and Familiars of Alae have wings. It was by luck that Nulli was blessed too with the horn of Ode's Familiars. He used that horn like a weapon better than any clumsy swordsman that travelled Odesh looking for duels. When the two sparred, Ellis always won, but Nulli was quick and terrifying with his sharp horn. Faster and stronger than he looked. Between us, nobody can come close. Not those three little triplets and certainly not that demon who killed my mother. I'd back Nulli against a Wyvern of Zyria any day. If the Pegasi of Alae could pick off and kill the Wyverns of Zyria all those years ago, Nulli would tear them apart.

The Palace of Odesh was the most beautiful place in the continent. Before Queen Erika closed the Odeshi borders from Iralia and Eodanira, adventurers and tourists from all over Ytia came to see it for themselves. Covered entirely in plants, vines and flowers of every colour, but purple, the colour of Odesh, was the dominant one. Ellis loved living here. A palace worthy of the forgotten Alaeyan Prince, that was for sure.

Have a bath! You reek! Nulli teased him upon flying through the vast, broad window of Ellis' bedchambers.

It's a warm day! Ellis pat Nulli's cheek as he disembarked from the beautiful red beast. Clobbering some sense into the barbarians of Odesh is hard work.

Yeah, you sure made it look that way, Nulli looked at him. You know Her Majesty is going to be angry with you for the way you acted.

Let her, Ellis stripped off his shirt, revealing a hard, muscular body. I am the only viable heir to her throne. She needs me.

You forget yourself sometimes, Nulli urged him, stomping on the mossy floor underfoot to make his point. Queen Erika took you in when you might have been put to the sword as a babe. Nobody in Alaeyas even knows of your existence, so your claim to the throne means nothing there.

"I have you," Ellis spoke aloud this time. "Not only a Unicorn of Ode, but a Pegasus of Alae. You are the only claim I need."

You're an idiot, Nulli shook his head, but used his long tongue to affectionately lick at Ellis' sweaty face. It will be the end of both of us. I can see it now.

Nulli needs to have more faith in me, Ellis thought to himself as he stripped off the rest of his clothes. I'm the future of our country. I'm the future of Alaeyas. Those triplet brothers of mine have no idea who they're competing with. I have been trained for this since I was sent to foster at Odesh. I climbed the highest mountains of Odesh, I dived from the cliff into the sea below, and I survived weeks alone in the woods, desert and plains. I learned to fight as soon as I learned to walk. My Queen has starved me so I may appreciate food, dehydrated me so I may appreciate water, forced me to live without aid among the commoners so I may appreciate their plight, and even drowned me so I may appreciate the very air itself. I am no ordinary man. The blood of Alae and Ode both flow through my veins. I have the Pegasus of Alaeyas and the Unicorn of Odesh to prove it. The Alaeyan Princes? Who cares about them? I am the only Prince that matters. That's why the Queen has hidden me away and isolated us. She's playing the long game.

After bathing in water almost hot enough to poach him, dressing in his favourite sleeveless tunic and smearing some of his favourite sweet-smelling perfume on his wrists and neck, Ellis was ready to see the Queen. She would have feedback for him. She always did. She had only just ridden in Violet, her dazzling purple Unicorn when he reached the entrance to the Palace without Nulli.

"Your Majesty," he greeted her with a smile and a subtle bow, and Erika laughed at him.

"Cut that out and help me down!" She smiled at him and extended a gloved hand.

She was still a comely woman despite her age. Wrinkles now creased her face and her once strawberry blonde hair was fading further by the year, but she was always trim, fit and pretty. Ellis reached up and helped her off Violet's back.

"Are you sure you don't want to start flying on Nulli's back?" Ellis asked her. It took the Queen twenty or thirty minutes longer to arrive back at the Palace. The entrance was all purple. Flowers and shrubs and creepers decorated the stone pillars. The scent of honeysuckle and roses filled the air.

"That's kind of you, Ellis," Queen Erika brushed the greying hair from her face. "But I could never leave Violet behind." She lovingly brushed the brilliant mane of her Familiar. Ellis left Nulli behind in his room.

"So, what do you have to say to me?" Ellis asked her as they strolled through the open corridors of the palace, the Queen admiring the ocean view on her way past. For fifty-six years, Queen Erika had lived in the Odesh Palace, and her love for the ocean view never wained. She made sure to leave her oceanside windows open in her bedchambers no matter the season. The sound of the waves crashing on the cliff the Palace was built on always calmed her, she said.

"I think you're needy and desperate for approval," Erika told him, looking back at him. "You're cocky, and despite my best efforts, you still take your position here for granted."

"And?" Ellis asked, a proud smile crossing his handsome face as he brushed his red bangs from his face. "What else?"

"You're the best bloody duellist in the country, but you already knew that," Erika slapped him on the back, and he knew that she was proud of him. "The people love you, Ellis. They look up to you. That's what impressed me most about you today. However, you're not as invulnerable as you might think. That's what worries me. You seem cursed to think you're better than you are no matter how strong you get. Always remember that it takes one misstep for your opponent to get an advantage. In a duel... or in politics. Never give up your advantage for anyone for any reason."

"That's what you've been doing," Ellis recognised the relevance to his political position in the Queen's words. She had him whereas Eodanira, Ilaria and Ulisse had three little boys, none of whom knew he existed.

"Exactly!" Erika seemed proud of his sharp mind. She trained him in everything. Swords, spears and even the bow. She tutored him personally in all things, even politics. She favoured him over her three biological sons. "Things are happening in the west, Ellis. Are you aware of this?"

"No, but you're the one with the spies, not me," Ellis reminded her. "What things? Are we ready to make our move?"

"What did I just tell you about giving up your advantage?" Erika slapped him in the cheek. Not hard enough to hurt his face, but hard enough to hurt his pride. "Today you turned your back on a man whose intent was to see you dead. Tomorrow, you would make your move when your political opponents are yet to show you your hand? I was thinking of telling Geoffrey that he is not to be my heir after all, but I don't believe you're ready for that."

"I am!" Ellis insisted. The Queen did not have any daughters to continue her legacy. She, unfortunately, had three sons instead. Geoffrey and Wesley were older than him, but Varo was only fifteen. They loved him as a brother, and he loved them, but Ellis always knew that the day would come where he would officially usurp his foster brothers' place as the heir of Odesh. He was hoping he proved it today, but Erika had high expectations, and he did not meet them. Soon, though.

"That remains to be seen," she seemed to take pity on him and gently brushed the cheek she'd only just slapped. "You are still a boy in too many ways. Impulsive. Reckless. You bed a different girl or boy every night, and you drink far more than you should. I have taught you many things, but you must do your part, Ellis. Grow up. You are ready to rule in Odesh, I do not doubt that, but you are not ready to rule in Alaeyas. Not yet."

"To rule in Alaeyas?" Ellis echoed the words of his foster mother. It was not a strange thing for her to say, but to hear her speak of his home country was always jarring.

"Walk with me," Queen Erika instructed him, taking his hand and strolling along the open corridor. She signalled those tending to her to remain and let her be with the Alaeyan Prince alone. "Alaeyas is in an appalling state right now."

"I thought it was a free country," Ellis frowned. "Happy, healthy and ruled by a fair Council."

"Oh, it is," Queen Erika was shorter than him, but she had a way of appearing bigger. A fierce, fair and wise woman, to be sure. Nobody had ever beaten her in an unlimited duel before. She was retired from competition now due to age, but Ellis wished he could have faced her in her prime. What a contest that would have been.

"So?" Ellis asked, tugging at her hand.

"Perhaps I worded it poorly," Erika gave a sharp smile. "It's a place of paradise, but it's not going to last. You know your brothers all turned sixteen recently. They are marrying Princesses. Iralia and Eodanira are both itching to put their Princess on the Alaeyan throne. I have no word of Ulisse, but we must assume they are no different. Alaeyas is the largest country in Ytia, but Ilaria has the strongest and biggest army. There will be war sooner rather than later."

"What will the Council do?" Ellis asked her, and Erika shrugged.

"The Council of Alaeyas is currently occupied. The country is on the brink of civil war. When Kai of Zyria overthrew the Royal Family and killed your mother, he put an end to the hierarchy. Nobles became commoners, and the poor became wealthy. A true collective. Admirable, in a way. I have done what I can to follow his example. Nobody in Odesh goes hungry, and everybody has reason to draw breath. But in Alaeyas, the former nobles are rising in rebellion, and whether it is Prince Soren, Prince Ronan or Prince Orion to arrive first will not matter. They will side with whoever attacks first to reinstate the Alaeyan Royal family and the hierarchy. The rich do not take kindly to losing their place and privilege it would seem. Who would have guessed? The truth is, Ellis, your mother was a terrible ruler. Still, Kai of Zyria was staggeringly naive when he thought this new system could work indefinitely."

"So what does this have to do with me?" Ellis asked, narrowing his eyes. If there was no Royal Family in Alaeyas, there was no point in sending him home.

"Oh, my Ellis," Erika giggled. "Always demanding to be the centre of attention. Well yes, you do have a significant role to play, my Prince of Alae. But not yet. First, you need to learn how to rule. You need to grow up. I need to know for certain that you will do what is best by the people you serve. The nobles of Alaeyas believe that putting any fool on a throne can make the country stable, but they have a short memory. Under your mother, Queen Palona, many of the common people suffered, starved and died. Monarchy comes with responsibilities, and Palona failed. Queen Ninon of Ilaria is a brutal, savage woman. Only lust for power and vengeance fuels her, and she will do whatever she can to take Alaeyas for herself after Kai destroyed her brother. You must do better than them."

"Under Ytian law, I cannot effectively rule as a male, mother," Ellis reminded her, and she looked to him.

"I love you like one of my own, but I am not your mother, Ellis," she corrected him. "Your mother died because she let her country down and Kai of Zyria stepped up to make Alaeyas a better place."

"You sound like you admire that demon," Ellis accused her, anger flooding through him so viscerally that he forgot she avoided his statement. "He murdered my mother! He practises the dark arts, and he spawned unnatural children without Familiars."

"He is no demon," Erika rested her arms on the next window and looked out to sea. Once upon a time, Geoffrey told him, ships from Ulisse would frequently dock by the Odesh Palace. Tourists. Sightseeing. Trading. Now, no ships were welcome in the waters surrounding Odesh. Nobody was welcome across her borders, and anyone who left Odesh was not permitted to return unless Queen Erika herself approved. It was a very private place.

"What is he then?" Ellis asked bitterly, joining her at the window. The beautiful blue sky and deep cobalt water underneath softened him, and he managed to control his anger. Emotions lead to mistakes, Erika taught him.

"When all is said and done," Erika lectured him, putting her arm around him and hugging him closer. "Kai Zyria is only a man. He knows the ancient magic of Zyria and his Familiar is a Wyvern. That's who he is. Don't let his reputation scare you. You have an anomaly by your side. A flying Unicorn. I know for a fact that some of our people believe you to be born of magic or miracle. I am one of them."

"What do you mean?"

"When your mother fell pregnant to someone related to the Ode family during her visit here nineteen years ago, she birthed you, and with you there spawned a Pegasus... but with a horn on its head. King Jaiden and all of Iralia would have been furious to know she shared her bed with someone that was not her husband, so she sent you to me, and the whole continent believes that Queen Palona Alae's first child died during birth."

Erika told him this story often. He'd heard it since he could speak.

"Anomalies with Familiars are very rare, Ellis. Women pass Familiars down to their children and men often do not share their power with their woman. You're special. You were born for this, and I have done everything in my power to make it so. You need to take the next steps. Prove to me again that you're worthy of ruling Odesh. Prove to me that you're worthy of ruling Alaeyas. Prove to me that you were born to make this world a better place, and I will see it done."

"I will, mother!" Ellis leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She chuckled and hugged him closer.

"I'm not your--" she went to say, but he cut her off.

"Maybe not, but I love you like one," he beamed down at her. "You've done more for me than any mother has ever done for her babe."

"That's my job," Erika smiled. "I have work to do. Go. Today is a beautiful day, and I'm sure you and Nulli could have a terrific time out in the sky."

"Wait," Ellis grabbed her wrist, and she looked up at him. "What will we do about my brothers?"

"The Princes?" She furrowed her wrinkly brow. "They are not our problem, Ellis. They are only a claim to the lost throne of Alaeyas. It's their Royal Families we need to have eyes on."

"Not those brothers," Ellis told her. "Geoffrey, Wesley and Varo."

"Oh, you're so sentimental," Erika teased him, cupping his cheek. "Look, I love my boys to Heaven and back, but I will choose the son best for the throne. Geoffrey believes he will rule through that weak, spineless wife of his when I am gone and she is crowned Queen. He has always believed it is his right to be King; that he is entitled to the crown because he was first born. I have raised you to understand that your duty is to the people. You are my chosen." Erika chose that moment to turn away and leave, a strange glint in her eye. She smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Your foster brothers will have to accept that." With that, she left. What's with her?

"Hmm, is that so?" Varo piped up from behind Ellis, almost making him jump out of his skin. How long has he been there? He looked much like Erika did when she was younger. All children born under the Goddess looked like their mothers. The boy seemed near invisible and silent as a shadow. Varo's narrow eyes assessed him. He was a boy of fifteen, short but still growing and already hard with muscle. He was not able to match Ellis in duelling, but he was far more deadly than his long, effeminate hair, almost pink, and soft, indigo eyes lead people to believe. He assassinated his first man at the age of nine. Ellis did not kill until he was thirteen.

"Varo, what have I told you about sneaking up on me?" Ellis leaned casually against the creepers lining the palace window. "How long have you been eavesdropping? What did you hear?"

"Enough to hurt Geoffrey's feelings," Varo spun a dagger around his nimble fingers much like Ellis would do with his rapier. Ellis was unarmed, but he did not at all feel threatened. He was faster and stronger than the younger boy. Varo dressed in tight black silks with his hair tied into a large ponytail. Every year he matured he grew more beautiful, Ellis decided. The girls fell for his high cheekbones, muscular body and dry wit. Heh. They were barking up the wrong tree. Young Varo was not interested in women. "Not mine, though. I already knew I would never sit upon a throne. I have no interest in that chair."

"I will not sit on that throne either," Ellis reminded him. "My wife will - whoever Mother chooses for me."

"She isn't your mother," Varo replied coolly as he reached the pair. Ellis rather enjoyed Varo, but this was uncharted territory, and he knew he needed to be cautious. The two were closer in age than Geoffrey and Wesley and grew up as close brothers, but when it came to politics, he did not know where Varo's loyalties would lie. With me, his friend? Or with Geoffrey and Wesley, his true brothers? "I have not birthed a child, but I wager she would remember if she squeezed you from her womb."

"And you are her favourite because you were the smallest of the babes she birthed," Ellis joked, and Varo's lips cracked into a pretty smile. "Tell me what you heard, Varo."

"I happened to come along when she praised you like the Goddess herself birthed you from the Heavens," Varo took his mother's place by Ellis' side and looked out the window the way she had. "You know what they say about eavesdroppers. They never hear anything pleasant about themselves."

"Then you should mind your business, shouldn't you?" Ellis remarked, and Varo merely shrugged.

"I have two older brothers, Elly. If I wanted to sit the throne, I would have killed them already," Varo quipped, but Ellis knew there was an element of truth in his baby brother's words. "She's always loved you more than her real children. Obsessed with you. It can make a boy feel inadequate, especially if he's every bit as strong as you."

"That sounds suspiciously like a challenge, little Varo," Ellis turned to face him. "If you have something you need to say to me, then say it. Don't hide behind your words."

Varo turned and made eye contact. The only sounds were the waves crashing against the cliffside out the window and Ellis' heart beating in his ears. The younger boy smiled and put his dagger safely in his belt.

"I have no quarrel with you, Elly!" He said amiably, hopping up on the window ledge. One small push or a strong gust of wind, and he would fall hundreds of feet below and splatter against the rocks. There was no fear in him. None of the Odeshi Princes knew fear. Their mother had made sure of it. "But I'm not Geoffrey or Wesley. I don't imagine my brothers will be pleased when news of Mother's decision to formally crown you as her heir reaches their ears."

"Will you tell them?" Ellis folded his arms. He refused to be intimidated by this boy, as much as Varo did everything he could to get under Ellis' skin.

"Do you want me to?" Varo cocked an eyebrow flirtatiously. "Shall I tell Geoffrey to forget his plans of ruling through Maree? Or do I keep this between us so that you may strike first?"

"If you say anything to anyone, you won't live to regret it," Ellis warned him, grabbed his wrist and pulling him off the ledge. Varo landed on his feet like a cat, tossing his long, strawberry blond hair back over his shoulders.

"So, you want me to keep your little secret? What's in it for me?" The boy asked provocatively, brushing his fingers against Ellis' chest.

Ellis had been privy to Varo's obvious crush on him for a long time, but he did not return those feelings. He was not a brother by blood, yet he was a brother all the same. But Varo knew that he was one of Ellis' few weaknesses, particularly the passion that burned for his foster brother.

"Your life," Ellis replied stoically, shoving his brother away and turning before Varo could have the satisfaction of seeing him blush. "Don't sneak up on people, Varo. Anyone could have thrown you from that window."

"You'd never hurt me!" Varo shouted back at him, sounding amused.

I certainly don't want to, Ellis thought. But if you force my hand, then I won't let you get in my way. I am the only Prince that matters. Not only in Alaeyas, but in Odesh as well. The future of Ytia depends on me. Not Varo, as much as he would like to be the hero. Ellis reached his chamber, ready to take Nulli for a ride out above the waves, but there was something that chilled him when he arrived at the door. Stuck to it with a silver dagger was a small, heart-shaped cut of parchment with one scrawled word on it.

"Horn."

He knew exactly what that message was. He had been marked for death.