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Alone, in his cell, one man strained as hard as he could to pull his body up. It had become a daily routine for him once more, a way to keep his mind from wandering to vengeance...
Vengeance...
Oh, yes, revenge. His mistress. Did it count to have a mistress when one was not married?
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The young prince, rather, ex-prince, huffed in anger. Anna. Elsa. Kill. Repeat. It had become something of a mantra. He chanted it every morning and every night. Revenge was his food and water. He barely got any sustenance from the guards.
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"Monster."
He knew what the guards said behind his back. Traitor. Ruin. Disgrace. They thought they knew him. They thought they knew the measure of the man before them. After all, they were, like him, members of the military.
He honestly missed his military days. At least then he knew who his enemy was. At least, most of the time. The Southern Isles was a compact group of more then a dozen small islands that connected through trade.
Given the fact that people on each island spent a great deal of time near, or on the water itself, the navy was actually more important than the army in this country.
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Hans hit the ground with a thud. Back when he had been making his way up the chain of command, he'd had to keep in shape. Life on the ship had been... rough. No clean areas, no decent food, filthy water. At the time, it had seemed like torture. But once he got above-deck, the cool sky, the fresh sea breeze, and no crowds... that had truly been freedom.
Freedom that was no longer his.
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Hans finished his repetitions. There was nothing for him any more. No place he could go where people didn't know him. And it was not like he could just turn pirate.
He smiled at the thought; pirating, now that took him back. There was a rattling up the stairs. Hans, out of breath, nevertheless stood at attention. It would not gain a salute, but he respected himself, and that's all the respect he required.
It was no big surprise that his visitor was his older brother Baragor. Baragor was just like Hans, just not quite as clever. Each of the thirteen brothers knew how to be truly vicious and bloodthirsty. They also understood the importance of alliances. Baragor brought food to Hans on a regular basis, just in case his baby brother came in handy. But today, he brought something much more stimulating.
Hans, though starving, immediately leapt from his place to see it with his own eyes.
"Is it authentic?" Baragor wasted no time with pleasantries. They both knew why he was down here.
"Impossible..." Hans said, "...Y...yes, yes it is."
Baragor nodded, then leapt up the stairs, two at a time.
Hans let out a sigh of tired breath. Well, that was bracing. He smiled to himself. Although he was no longer free, it seems as though his past was catching up with the rest of the kingdom. And now they would regret forcing him out of his captaincy.
Hans straightened his posture as he prepared himself for another work-out. Yes... this would be very interesting indeed.