Rae's Motivation for the diRistrofil Massacre

Rae thumbs through an ancient book, stopping only when he reaches a page with a black smear across the top outside corner. The words "In the Eighth Generation" are written in a neat script, slightly larger the words on than the rest of page.

He had found this tome when he was only nine and had kept it secret from even Tobee. In the chapter "In the First Generation," he had recognized most of the events of the founding of Ristrofil. The next four chapters spoke of historical facts from the reigns of Ristrofil's second, third, fourth, and fifth kings, some of which he recognized from his tutors, some of which must have been lost in time. It was during the fifth king's reign that the book had been scribed by a Fey Man called Hennri.

Hennri dabbled in the black spells forbidden to proper faeries, using his talents to forecast the future. "Be warned, ye of the future," he had written at the beginning of the sixth chapter, "the future is fluid. Simply by reading this you may change its course." Perhaps the sixth and seventh king did not read it. As far as Rae could tell, all it said had come to pass. It was in the eighth chapter that things began to change. The first years were correctly predicted. The king had four children, a son, twin sons, and a daughter. The twins had become Fey Men.

But in the thirteenth year after the twins birth, the populace was supposed to break into riots, torture and kill nearly the entire diRistrofil family, and place a traitor, Earl diVolaine onto the throne. Only the daughter Tarannalyn would survive, and she would bear the traitor Earl's bastard son when she was only fifteen.

Rae read of this tragedy four years before it was to occur. His father refused to listen to the 'ancient madman's ravings'. Rae decided to take matters into his own hands. He decided his family were dead anyway, so any who survived would be bonuses and any who did not at least would receive a quick death.

His older brother died first, three years earlier than the prophecy had given him to live. Rae was so sick afterwards, he considered not going through with the rest. Definitely not Tara, Tara could be smuggled out of the country and put up for adoption somewhere. She was only a year old. The next year, two years before the prophesied rebellion, Tara disappeared. The Earl, Rae watched. He was definitely up to something.

A year and a half passed. The Earl plotted and the new Heir Apparent schemed. To Rae, stopping the Earl was not enough. A lesson must be set, not only to the traitor but to those who were allowing it to be possible. The king, the queen, they were most at fault after the Earl himself. They had to be replaced. Rae believed he would be a far superior king. For the good of the nation, his parents must die. Cousins, aunts, and uncles may provide focal points for usurpers. They must die as well. The other earls might not like a 13 year old king and would probably make a stink about a regency. Rae did not want a regency, a regent was weaker than a king and might not give up power later. That could lead to civil war. To prevent that, the other Earls and the powerful Dukes must die. With the entire upper aristocracy dead, none of the lower ones would dare oppose him. As long as he was the only diRisrofil he could not be overthrown.

That left Tobee. His twin, he knew, had no interest in the throne, and the people mistrusted him far more than they did Rae. They would not, could not, rally behind the younger prince. Tobee would live. Tarannalyn, Tonaylillibee, and Vernibillirae. That was two more survivals and a happier life than Hennri predicted. The deaths would be limited to the upper aristocracy, most of whom were diRistrofils or only a generation or two removed. It would go down in history as a coup, not a rebellion, not a war. Coups were better for the nation, they did not disrupt trade or the lives of the normal citizenry. Especially quick coups, and Rae was planning a very fast one. One night. Those marked to die would all be present in diRistrofil castle at one time, during the ceremony of betrothal between a Duke's eleven year old daughter and Crown Prince Vernibillirae. The Earl's move was planned for the day of the ceremony, when everyone was drunk and indisposed. Rae would move the day before. Killing one's betrothed was, after all, a disgusting act, far worse than regicide or patricide. It would be far easier if she was still just a cousin.

For it to be successful, he would need Tobee's help. He would need his brother to take at least half the blame for the populace to accept him as king. But Tobee did not see the world the same way Rae did. Tobee was a lost cause in the realms of intrigue, politics, and diplomacy. He was too honest, too idealistic. If Rae went to him with this scheme, he would see only that the Earl had to be removed, preferably to prison rather than to the Dark Lord. But that would solve only the immediate crisis. Somebody else would take the Earl's place within the next few years. To eliminate the whole problem permanently, the full plan must be carried out. For the good of his people, his family must die, and if he had to force Tobee to do it without an explanation, he was sure he could manage it. His brother trusted him beyond all reasonable limits. He just had to be strong and not waver and Tobee would follow his lead.

His preparations went without a hitch. During the week prior to the ceremony, into each of his victims, he planted the compulsion to go to the main ballroom the night before. The compulsion was a fey trick it had taken him months to get right. It was black magic, so he had to practice it without letting Tobee or Nelysi, their magic tutor, find out. But he'd gotten it down. He had personally walked Tobee there, after they had gathered. The few servants they encountered were sent away. None of them would later remember seeing the twins. In the ballroom, again, servants were told to return to their rooms. They, also, suffered amnesia. That too was a black spell. Tobee looked at him warily whenever he used it, but did not say anything. He'd already been briefed. He didn't want them to remember anything any more than Rae did.

The executions took place as planned. The king died first, then the queen. The traitor Earl was third. Tobee cried as he used his knife over and over. Rae's face felt wet, too, but he did not let that stop him. He said each victim's name before gave them an inexpert first stab. Tobee was better at hitting critical areas and would finish off the ones he didn't manage to kill. He chickened out on all six cousins, including the one he was supposed to marry. Those he made fall asleep. When they woke up, they were on a boat and could remember neither how they came to be there nor who they were. The captain told them lies, and set them up with foster families. They were all less than twelve years of age. Though strictly black magic, Tobee was more than happy to learn and help on those spells. Those 'deaths' were recorded in the reports of the massacre, so as far as anyone besides Tobee and Rae knew, they were dead.

As far as the world knew, thirty-nine people died that night. When the country woke up the next morning, Vernibillirae was king, and a pile of charred ash had to be cleaned from the ballroom. There was no further whisper of rebellion. Cries of grief, horror, and terror, yes, but nothing of rebellion.

When Tobee insisted on an explanation, Rae made something up about a plot to kill the younger twin. It strengthened his loyalty to his king and brother, tying him by strings of guilt and life debt. Rae hated the deception, but he felt he had already abused their friendship beyond its breaking point. The lie and intrigue had come too easily, but he could not take them back even if he wanted to, not without destroying all of his brother's loyalty. It was only much later that he realized that small deception trapped them both. Tobee was and could only ever be a pawn now. Rae had lost his only remaining family, his only true confidant. Oh, he played at having Tobee as a brother, and a friend and someone to talk to, but as time went on, it became more and more obvious to him that he was only telling his brother what he needed to know, and that amount of knowledge was getting smaller and smaller. The worst part was that Tobee didn't even recognize what was happening. He thought everything was fine and normal. It gave Rae stomach aches after their conversations. He had needed to send Tobee away even more often to avoid developing an ulcer.