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With two hands on the table, he stands not half as tall as his son, not half as strong as his son, but he stands, standing up for his son. In his chest beats his slowing heart, increasing with rage, increasing with anger, he's upset over the decision because he knows that it is a wise one, but his fatherly instincts increase and his logic does not.

"He's not been given a chance…" He grumbles, as he takes in a deep breath and slowly releases it, "I cannot ask him to do something like that, it would be-,"

He is interrupted by the one to his left, professionally clad, straight sitting, but still seasoned with age, "Lord Gramis, it would be extremely fair, as you and I both know." He crosses his wrinkled hands and stares around to catch the nods of agreement, "Your son will ruin this country if you do not pass it onto the next; now is that fair to us, to the youngest, to Archadia?"

Gramis slowly returns to his seat, his heart falling back into slow, steady beats, his face draining back to his pale color. Against the ones around him, he's not control, they will persuade him in the way of which they all wish for, the way that he does not wish for. His children, the two left, they are smart, that he knows, but the eldest of the two, seems to make destructive decisions more then not and it would not be fair to anybody to put him in full control.

"And what if he will not back down?" Gramis asks, brain fumbling around ways to make everybody, himself, his sons, the senate, and his country, happy.

A voice from the right speaks, "He will back down; you will make sure of it."

Gramis thinks that these men don't understand how his son truly is. Vayne is hard headed, he is strong, much stronger then Gramis, he can persuade just as well as the men around the elder, he can get his way even when nobody wishes for his way to go. Gramis wishes to argue more, these men are only as powerful as he, when all together; that's when Gramis must face that they are all together, they'll change and tweak what he says until he's no choice but to agree with them.

"We will see…" his voice says lightly, underneath shallow breaths, and choked back terror, "We will see." He removes his body from the chair; he is willing to speak with Vayne for he knows just where he is, he knows that the sooner he speaks to him, the better.

--

"Larsa…" Vayne calls, pacing his brother's bedroom, a book in-between his fingers, "Where are you?" He sets the book on the end table next to the bed, slowly bending down to the ground and pulling up the bed skirt to see if his brother is hiding.

"Yes brother?" He hears a voice call from the doorway.

Vayne turns on his heel and faces the shorter boy, his shadow mocking his height behind him, "Where have you been?" He asks raising an eyebrow, knowing that Larsa did indeed enjoy getting into trouble.

Larsa ignores the smug tone in his brother's voice, "I have been out and around…, did you need something?" He turns his head, hands behind his back, and looks up at his brother, so tall, and so strong.

"I finished the book you wished to read… Thought you may want to read it now…" He nods and wonders if he comes in here only because he's nothing better to do or if he really did want Larsa to have the book.

"Aw!" Larsa beams, his fingers taking the book from the nightstand and flipping through the pages gingerly, "Thank you, I've been meaning to find something to… pass the time?" He smirks at the ideas of what he normally does to pass time, reading, not being one of them.

"Of course…" Vayne replies, "Maybe now you can keep yourself away from trouble and further educate yourself in things that you must…"

Larsa glares, he hates when his brother tries to act superior to him, always had he been told that he had a bit of a competitive streak despite his innocent appearance.

"Are you going to leave now?" Larsa asks, knowing Vayne has better things to do then hang around although he longs to spend more time with his brother.

Vayne turns his eyes and kneels down to Larsa's height, "Unless you wish to spend the afternoon together?"

Larsa's face lights up, "Really? The whole afternoon?"

Vayne nods and puts a hand on his shoulder, "Whole, afternoon."

Just like he was five years old again, Larsa's eyes stretch to the size of saucers and he nods quickly, excited that Vayne has cleared time in his busy schedule to hang around with him.

"Vayne?"

Vayne turns his head to the doorway in which both Larsa and himself had just entered through. There he sees his father, dark circles beneath his eyes, and his hands, trembling as he tries to hold them at his sides. His body aches knowing that this is something time consuming; something that will eat into his free time with Larsa, and his brother had just appeared so excited. Now Larsa appeared like he always did, bored, angry; puckered lips and a narrowed brow.

"Yes Father?" Vayne asks, returning to his feet and walking over to him.

Gramis recoils as Vayne approaches him, nerves eating away at the words he must speak, "We need to talk…"

Vayne nods and turns back to Larsa who has picked up the book and begun reading it. Hopefully this won't take long, he doesn't wish for Larsa to be upset with him, but he knows his duty calls for him to go with his father. Slowly he follows after him, closing Larsa's door behind him so that Larsa will not have to worry with such situations that the two of them deal with.

"What is it Father?" Vayne asks as soon as the two are far enough away from Larsa's room, that they converse privately.

"You know I will not be able to continue on with my role as Emperor much longer…" Gramis starts, his closed fist touching his chest as he speaks.

Vayne nods, curious as to what in the world his father is getting at by talking about his death.

"You're to take over afterwards…" His voice is changing in pitch as he speaks, not as though Gramis is about to cry but as though he is nervous, extremely nervous.

Vayne nods again, quickly now, excited about taking over, "I know that, now what about that?"

"I want you to hand your position over to Larsa immediately." His eye's shoot open and they are an open target for the imaginary daggers Vayne is shooting.

"You what?" Vayne speaks, outraged that his father would ask something of the sort, "You cannot ask me to do such a thing, HOW DARE YOU!"

Gramis let's his eyelids fall back so that all he can do is squint, squint at the ground so that he doesn't have to let Vayne see how ashamed he is for even asking such a thing.

"The Senate and I, feel that it would be best, if you did not ever take your spot as Emperor." Gramis speaks as though all emotion has been drained from him, it pretty much has.

"But that spot!" Vayne spats, "That is my spot, my rightful spot, I DESERVE it! I've done fine so far, why would you ever think anything like that? I am no failure you know that!"

Gramis shakes his head, "This is not about your wins or your loses, you must understand that certain decisions you have made just aren't… aren't… exactly what the Senate feels would be appropriate for the state of Archades. They think you'll ruin the country… I think you'll ruin the country." Gramis knows that he's being harsh, but he must use excuse, after excuse, the Senate is right, Vayne will ruin Archadia, so with all feelings put aside, Gramis must fight for his one true love, his country.

"I WILL NOT!" Vayne screams through clenched teeth.

"YOU MUST!" Gramis yells, triggering all his strength and making himself as big and strong as Vayne, "You must because you know that you're not going to help anything, you know you'll make it worse, if you will not back down voluntarily I will find a way for it to happen, the senate as my left hand."

"You wouldn't?" Vayne narrows his eyes, breathing heavy, chest heaving, as he tries to calm his fists and his mind so he doesn't do something he'll regret.

"Oh, I would, and I will." Gramis says crossing his arms and never removing his eyes from Vayne's.

Rage engulfs Vayne; he kicks the ground with all his might and elbows the wall, his teeth bared as he removes himself from his father's presence and back down the hallway. He's offended, he's outraged, how could his father even consider knocking him from his rightful position; much less literally take it away only to give it to Larsa? Larsa would have not a clue in the world what do if he was given the position, VAYNE had worked at it, for so many more years then Larsa had, how could he?

Inside his bedroom, Larsa sat across the door. He had heard everything, he had listened closely. His father was too old to fight with anything Vayne would do upon his storming away, and whatever Vayne did decide to do, would not be smart. Larsa could read his family easily, although they didn't talk much, and were certainly not normal, he knew how they operated, all he could do was prepare himself for whatever battle would soon erupt between the two remaining eldest members of the family.