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I snuck my way near the throne room and noticed a new face. My uncle's wife was in the throne room. Plans needed to be devised. Arzola needs a diversion from our warriors. Indeed, this wouldn't impede her plan.

Though this was risky, I needed a way to get him out of the throne room. One of his guards entered the room and conveyed a message.

"My Lord, I have a message," said the guard.

"What is it?" my uncle replied.

Apparently, the tool being used to execute me had a delay. My uncle scolded him and told him to inform the builders to hurry or they'd be next. This man is a tyrant. He needed to be stopped. The guard left the room, and my uncle continued talking to the queen.

I see my cousin sitting on a slightly smaller throne than his parents.

Suddenly, the throne room doors burst open, and Arzola walks in with a guard's helmet. She crushed it on the tip of her sword.

With a condescending tone, she says, "Your Majesty, I am respectfully going to remove you from the throne.

"Why are you?" My uncle asked before one of his guards used a battle hammer to send Arzola through a wall. That wasn't any ordinary guard; that was my uncle's royal demon. He used to train with my father back then.

"Take care of this, will you?" My uncle asked. The royal guard was also a chaser. This put Arzola in a dangerous situation. The fight continued outside at the sound of it. This gave me time to take back the throne.

I could also hear voices shouting all around. The Generals must have freed our warriors. This was my chance. But I didn't know how I was going to make my uncle remove his seal from my wrist. Using my cousin as collateral shouldn't be the only option.

Then, out of nowhere, I was shoved from my hiding spot. There I was, in front of my traitor of a family in the hands of a guard.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here. Adrian Dylan. Let me guess. Come to take the throne?" My uncle said.

I tried to struggle, and the guard jabbed me in the back. 

My uncle ranted about his vision of The Iron Kingdom. The dagger was still on me, so I quickly grabbed it, slit the wrist of the guard, cut the bend of his legs, and held him at sword point.

My uncle sat straight up and said, "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me. Old man," I replied.

Then, from the ceiling, I could see Arzola fall to the ground. The guard landed nearly on top of her.

"Just in time," My uncle said.

"Drop my guard. Now!" My uncle shouted.

I told him to make me drop him. He didn't like that by the looks of his face. My uncle turned to his guard and said, "If he doesn't let him go in ten seconds, crush her neck." 

The guard placed his foot on her throat, and my uncle began counting down.

"You wouldn't," I said.

"Ten."

No matter how terrible he was, he would never do something this horrendous. He was at number nine, and I shouldn't have waited this long. Arzola couldn't die here. She was the one who was most loyal to this Kingdom. 

Once he reached number five, I shouted, "I'll kill him!"

He stopped counting, stood up, and said, "Unlike your father, you don't have the stomach to kill someone like this. You're all talk. Bark, no bite. You may have been king, but you're no real king," He said before pausing for a moment.

"You see. Your father was and will always be a better king than you. He had the stomach to make the hard decisions. He had vision, strength, and glory in his name. And that's nothing you could ever have attained in your worthless life, Adrian. But I am and always will be better than him. He just had a crown on his head," my uncle said with spite in his voice.

He threw a sword to my feet and said, "If you're going to be better than him, at least execute this once in your life."

By this point, I didn't know what to do. Maybe he was right. I wasn't as good as I think I am. Dropping the sword to my feet, I dropped the guard and the dagger as I looked to my feet. 

Then, my uncle said, "Kill her."

I snapped my head back up and shouted, "No. Stop!"

"No. I'm going to show you how a king is supposed to operate," my uncle concluded.

"Kill her," He said once more.

I dropped to my knees and begged him to spare her, and even said that I would do anything. He raised his hand to his guard and said, "You see, Adrian. You could never be on our level. You can't even let her die."

Tears dropped from my face, and I asked, "Why are you doing this?"

He looked to his guard and said, "Take them away. Prepare them for execution."

I picked the dagger back up and tried to rush to kill my uncle. The royal guard knocked the sword from my hands and jabbed me in the chest. I was flung across the room and struck the wall.

I stumbled to my feet with a distorted vision. Then, I realized that he jabbed me with a blade. My blood dropped to the ground, and I started to space out.

Suddenly, I could feel Naldi's presence. His aura surrounded me, and he said, "No way I'm dying to a mortal." I could feel myself losing control of my own body. Claws sprouted from my hands, and my control was back. "Kill them," Naldi said.

I leaped towards the guard and punched a hole into his hammer. He dropped it, and he attempted to kick me. I blocked it and noticed that my strength was increasing tremendously.

The next thing that happened increased my odds. My uncle's seal had burned off, and I could use my swords again. I summoned that mysterious blade and was on guard.

My cousin joined in, and he used his powers. His number gleamed, and he said,

"Father, I'm about to break the palace."