Aspirations

Prologue: The Royal Decree

Note: This story idea is mine. The characters are mine.

Warning: Contains or will contain Slash, profanity, and implied sexual situations. Therefore, it is rated R. Homophobes are suggested to click the back button unless they are exploring their sexuality.

Summary: Brendan finds himself mixed up into his sister’s ambitious plot to take over the crown. About to lose his head due to treason, his sister suggest they do something they haven’t done since they were young; switch places. (slash)

written 7.20.04

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To the Noble Lord Brennan Golding,

We, the High Council of King Berthold, have deemed you guilty of committing treason. Considering your Lordship’s sister, the gentle and fair lady Sarah has been engaged to the prince; we will keep this matter secret and will not punish the Golding family name. As for the matter of punishment, your Lordship will atone for your sins through death. The means has not been decided although it will be wise to start spreading rumors of an impending illness. A royal scribe accompanied by city capital guards will arrive with legal documents that are imperative your Lordship fill out.

The High Council
Eternal Health be blessed to our royal King

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Brendan never once thought that he was going to lose his head because his overly ambitious sister had decided that she wanted to overthrow the current royal family. Now that may have sounded to everyone else like an absurd idea that had no chances of achieving reality, but Brendan knew his sister. He knew Sarah. They were twins. It would be almost sacrilegious if he didn’t know her half as well as he did. But nothing would have ever prepared him for this, nothing at all.

He had fervently prayed every night that Sarah was out consorting with a lover like many other noble ladies her age rather than be the leader of midnight meetings filled with political conspiracies and plots. He’d rather his sister fool around with a man and accidentally get pregnant than have secret meetings concerning the issue of usurping the throne. Causing a scandal and bringing momentary shame to the family was better than death. Of course, he hadn’t known that she was conducting treasonous meetings at the time or he would have put a stop to such risky business. Then, almost miraculously, she had gotten engaged to the prince and the nightly meetings had ended. He had truly rejoiced and thought that she was going to settle down. He really should have known better.

Sarah was already “odd” from the start. She had insisted on taking every single lesson with Brendan. Thinking back, he really should have tried to be stricter. Their parents had never allowed her to take any lessons, but he was soft on his little sister, and thus granted her wish. Another quirk of Sarah’s was that she liked to take advantage of the fact that they were twins. When they were younger, they often switched places and went to the neighboring towns to play. As time passed, they grew out of it, although Sarah occasionally still liked to masquerade as him. So when she asked to have some of his clothes, he let her, and asked no questions. He really should have known better.

Sarah had always been a free spirit, and the life of a lady did not suit her. He believed that she would have died living the typical suffocated life of a noble. On second thought, it would be more plausible to believe that she would have killed the ones who would have dared to cage her. Of course, the life a commoner also did not suit her. Sarah was born with grace, charisma, and a calculating mind. She was a woman who would make a great queen. And one day she would be queen. He had hoped that she would be content with her marriage to the prince. He really should have known better.

It would be so much easier to hate his sister and blame her for this if he hadn’t known that this wasn’t part of her plan. Of course, it would have been nice if she had informed him beforehand that she had conducted all these acts of treason under his name. On second thought, he would have preferred it far more if she hadn’t involved him at all. He really should have known better.

And so Brendan cried and resolved himself to his fate. He was going to die. He was 19 years of age and currently unmarried. He cringed to think of what his mother would say, and what his father would do if they were alive. Although he didn’t really see the opposite gender in that way, he thought he could have managed producing one heir to the family. He really tried resenting Sarah, but found that he couldn’t find it in his heart to blame her. He admired her spirit. If she were a man, she would have gone far… but she was stuck in the trappings of her female body. He sighed and began to write out his will. Depressing really, but he was going to die, and there was nothing that could be done about it. He really should have known better.

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Sarah glowered at the remaining faithful servants in the manor, at least faithful her brother Brendan. She could tell that they were blaming her for the death sentence that had befallen their gentle lord. It was a miscalculation on her part. She hadn’t checked to see if the royal spy had died. He had fallen off a cliff already halfway dead through blood loss! She massaged her temples gently with her fingers to ease her headache. Suddenly she shouted,” Oh damned it all to hell!” She stormed to her room, and the servants moved out of their raging lady’s way with little effort.

Sarah was scowling in her room as she thought out the details of her now slightly altered plan. She hadn’t planned on the plot to overthrow the king being revealed so soon. She certainly hadn’t expected the royal spy to recognize her as a member of the Golding family and to mistake her for her brother. She smiled dryly, imagining her sweet brother plotting to kill anyone. He always was a kind person. He was much too kind for her to actively involve him in her plans.

Sarah licked her lips. Oh, the spy was going to pay dearly for this. But first she was going to solve her brother’s little dilemma. Thankfully, her engagement to the prince had not been rescinded. The prince was too smitten with her to break off the engagement, and the king did not see her as a threat because she was a merely a woman. To them, she was merely gentle lady Sarah whose kind demeanor had earned her title of the gentle princess amongst the people. But Lady Sarah Golding was no mere anything. “They will see the graveness of their errors,” she thought darkly,” But they will see much too late.”

Slight alterations had to be made in the plans, but in the end she would make it work. Her mind was already turning gears as an idea came to her. Brendan most certainly wouldn’t like it, but she would make him do it. Brendan always gave into her so called whims. This one would be no different. She stood up. There was someone she had to find. This someone knew Brendan, and perhaps Sarah, as well as they knew themselves, maybe even more.

Sarah let her ocean blue eyes fall onto the old woman tending the primroses in the garden. She had served the Golden family for as long as she could remember. She had never bothered to learn the old woman’s name, but she did know that the old woman loved Brendan like her own child. She said to the old woman,” I need your help with something.” The old woman did not say anything, and began watering the flowers. Sarah sighed and said, “It will save Brendan.” The old woman lifted her weary face to acknowledge Sarah, and smiled for the first time in days.

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Brendan had spent the past couple of days dealing with mountains of paperwork, and he still wasn’t done yet. He was highly irritated by this point. A man couldn’t die in peace without having legal documents plaguing the last moments of his life.

Brendan really would have liked to tell the royal scribe who looked at him as if he were some lowly thug to shove all his paperwork up where the sun didn’t shine, but he simply opted for saying,” I can deal with all this,” gesturing at his new mountain of unsigned legal documents,” on my own. Why don’t you come back when I’m done? It will save us both a lot of grief. You don’t like me, and I don’t like you. I’d preferably like to spend the last couple days of life with my family, and not holed up in this room with you.”

Brendan looked at the royal scribe expectedly, hoping that the stupid stuck up young man would simply leave. The royal scribe arched his eyebrow, and said with a smirk that Brendan would have really liked to wipe off of his face,” I don’t quite think so Lord Golding. I have specific orders to make sure that you finish going through all these legal documents. I think I rather enjoy your company and am quite hurt that you do not enjoy mine.”

Brendan snorted, earning him a disdainful sniff from the scribe. In pompous asshole language that meant, “No, I think I’ll stay and make the last moments of your life miserable even if I have to suffer a bit. At least I have the rest of my life to savor the moments I made you miserable.”

Brendan glared at the scribe and said,” Is there any more paperwork after this?”

The scribe said,” After you are through reviewing and signing all these documents, you will have to write up your will, my lord.” Oh yeah, thought Brendan, what a way to pour some salt into my already oozing wound.

Brendan laughed a little bitterly and said,” Well, that’s one less thing to take care of.” The scholar looked surprised for a moment, but the disdained look soon returned. Brendan sighed as he ran his hair through his light blond locks and went back to work. He wondered when he was going to break down. Apparently not yet, his mind told him dryly as he began to mechanically fill out more forms.

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End Prologue

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