Young Vindication, now almost a grown adult speaks to his friends of when he first met his older brothers. His mother who sat with them, adding in bits and pieces as they all sit around a fire enjoying a peaceful family camping trip.
@internutter/challenge-03174-h265-complicated-family-dynamic -- Anon Guest
With a family name like Merrimine, there's a reputation. The young Viceroy had grown up steeped in it. He had to keep it, alas, since the name also came with a lot of official documents including holdings and rights and responsibilities.
All things considered, it was pure luck that Vindication Merrimine grew to be such a well-rounded young man. One, additionally, free from the prejudices of the man who sired him. It helped that one of his older brothers was a Hellkin. It really helped that many of his half-siblings were also heroes working in the realm.
When Loyalty took the crown instead of Jubilation, he was the first to attest to his brother's ability to rule fairly. As the icon of the former revolution, Vindication knew that people would listen to him.
"My father Synope would have condemned him to death. He, and my brother Jubilation, ended Synope's rein of terror. The right to rule has been weighed in the balance. Jubilation knows where his abilities fit best, so he will be using his body and blade to help our people. Loyalty is also my brother. He has seen more injustice than I could ever know about. I trust him to deal fairly under the crown."
It helped that all three siblings were willing to roll up their sleeves and work with the common folk.
It helped that Vindication took up Adventuring to solve some of the more interesting problems of the realm. Incognito, as an armoured warrior called Vinny.
His friends were quite surprised to find out his mother was a Duchess. Or that his brother was the reigning Duke and a Hellkin.
It didn't matter that he was currently frying the sausages. Dukes apparently didn't do campside cooking.
"Yeah, the crew had the same reaction as you lot when they found out whose kids we were," said Jubilation.
"So you and your half-sibs killed the man who sired you," said the Cleric, half-reproachfully. "Why did this weird set of family stop at the Duke Synope?"
"He was six at the time," said the Dowager Duchess Merrimine, otherwise involved in her needlework. "Would any of you slaughter a six-year-old?"
The philosophical debate took up most of that evening.
[Photo by Joshua Newton on Unsplash]
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