***
“The food was pretty good,” said The Knave.
The Prince nodded. “Yeah, I haven’t had seafood in a while.” He smiled.
The Knave nodded but it was measured and slow as if weighted down. “Yes...”
The Prince had been staring off when he spoke, but hearing something in his cousin’s voice he looked at him. He said, “So, what’d you need to speak to me about?”
“Cutting right to the chase? You never used to do that.”
The Prince unclenched his hands from the back of his neck and folded his arms. He waited.
The Knave said, “Fine. Let’s talk then.”
“Very well.”
“Why did you visit my sister?”
The Prince raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Cut the crap, you know what I mean. Why’d you go see her? We both know you were supposed to head straight here to my brother’s territory.”
The Prince didn’t like the way he spoke but practiced restraint. “She sent a telegraph asking me to make a slight detour. And so I did.”
“Yeah? Why?”
The Prince shrugged one shoulder. “She wanted to catch up and I wanted to see her.”
“Bullshit. What did she want from you?” It was more direct than he wanted to be but impatience got the better of him.
“Like I said-”
The Knave pounded a heavy fist onto the table causing cracks to appear in the hardwood surface. He also had quite the temper. “Don’t lie to me!”
The Prince sighed. "I wasn't lying - I wanted to see her. You of all people should understand that."
Through gritted teeth he said his cousin's name. "Yes, I do. But you weren't there just to catch up. We both know that."
He nodded. "Yes."
"Then what did she want from you?" He had calmed but only just.
The Prince was silent for a time until he said, "She wanted to make a deal."
"What kind of deal?"
"It was more of an offer. She would give me her half of Maryland."
"In exchange for what?"
"That I take your brother’s territory away from him."
The Knave's breathing was audible now. He said, "But not just that..."
"No, not just that."
The Knave could feel as well as hear his heart thundering in his chest. "Then, what?"
"That I also kill him."
The silence that followed was so deafening it could've signaled the coming end of the world. The Knave had suspected - no, had known - what the man was going to say, but hearing it was something altogether different. When he spoke he did so with immense trepidation, as if the simple measure of asking would make the nightmare come to life. At last he asked, "What was your answer?"
"Yes." The Prince didn’t hesitate as he looked into his cousin’s eyes. He had just declared his willingness to kill family, to kill a man he considered his brother. He reconfirmed his decision by saying, "Yes, I'd kill him to take all of Maryland for my own."
The Knave stood up so fast his chair tipped over. His face was red. He stared at the man across from him with eyes like daggers forged in hate. The Prince also stood up but took his time doing so. The Knave shook his head but spoke with surprising calm. “You’d kill him? He’s blood. He’s family. He’s your brother. We are brothers. The three of us...”
“Yes, we are.”
“Then why?” His voice was louder.
“Because we both know he’d never cede his half of the state to anyone. Never. There’s only one way.”
“You piece of shit...”
The Prince raised an eyebrow. “What right do you have to be upset?”
One of The Knave’s eyes twitched. “The hell are you talking about?”
“We both know you want his territory as much as I do...”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“...even though you ran away from it long before the old country fell apart.”
“You motherfucker!” He yelled as he went for the pistol he kept on a holster on his back. However, he stopped short, his fingers barely touching it. His cousin’s hands had also moved – one hand reaching for the gun on his hip while the other disappeared behind him. And just as The Knave didn’t draw his weapon, The Prince didn’t draw his. While still a threat, The Knave knew the gun on his right hip was a distraction; it was the knives he was concerned with. His cousin had always excelled in their use. The Knave calculated he could draw his gun and fire a round or two at just about the same speed The Prince could throw as many knives. They would kill each other, and for a second he didn’t care. The two most powerful men in this small corner of a broken world stared at each another, neither knowing which, if either, would leave the room alive. An unsettling stillness sat in the air like a fog.
The Prince broke the silence first. He said, “What’ll we do now? Are we going to kill each other here?”
“You want to kill my brother.”
“Don’t misunderstand me – I don’t want to kill him. If he would only give his territory to me I would let him go unharmed. I love him as I love you, but what choice is there? He won’t give it up. You know this.”
“Then why? Because my sister asked you to?” The Knave scoffed. “You never could say no to her.” He took it as victory when he saw The Prince’s eye twitch.
“You’re wrong.”
“Really? Then you tell me why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand.”
“I want something greater than you or him or your sister. Something greater than the land I’d kill your brother for.” He smiled. “Something greater than even me.”
There was a question in The Knave’s eyes.
“Reunion,” said The Prince.
The Knave scrunched his eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”
“Of the old country. I want to reunify the old United States.”
Caught completely off-guard The Knave stood up and let his arms drop to his side. He quirked his mouth and then asked, “You’re serious?”
The Prince nodded.
The Knave let out a boisterous laugh then, as if hearing a joke. He couldn’t help it; the man’s plan was ridiculous. While The Prince wasn’t perturbed at his cousin’s response he looked at him with dispassionate eyes. He said nothing and waited. Composing himself The Knave shook his head and said, “You’re insane...”
Sensing the threat from his cousin had gone The Prince moved his hands away from his weapons. He said, “Am I? Is it so wrong that I want to bring back the United States?”
“America is gone; that time is over. There’s no bringing it back. You think that just because you’ve taken a city whose fame and glory have passed that you’ve now become Genghis Khan?”
“No, I’ll be more than that. More than him, Alexander the Great, and all the others.”
The Knave might’ve laughed again if he hadn’t seen the look in the man’s eyes. There was more than belief in what he wanted to achieve – he had faith. And it wasn’t blind for it was the kind of faith many reserved for a higher being. There weren’t many that were capable of such conviction. But he was going to kill his brother, and he couldn’t let that go. However more than that, if The Prince’s desire was to bring the old United States under his thumb that would also mean The Knave himself would have to fall. And while he’d for kill for his brother, he’d rather die than give up everything he’s won.
The Knave said, “What you want, it isn’t possible.”
“I’ll make it possible.”
“You say that like it’s easy.”
“No. I can promise you everything I’ve done up to now hasn’t been easy. But it’s all been worth it.” Gesturing with a hand The Prince emphasized his point. “And this is just the beginning.”
The Knave shook his head. “You’re insane...”
“You’ve said that.”
“Because it’s worth repeating.” The Knave chuckled. “You must know there are far too m
any things standing in your way. Who knows what’s out west. And then there’s the New Republic of Texas...”
The Prince looked at his cousin, and then stared at a spot on the wall. The Knave wondered if the man in front of him was seeing the new country he planned to build. The Prince didn’t look at his cousin as he spoke. “One city and one state at a time – it’s the best I can do. They’ll all fall, eventually. But they’re not what worry me.” He turned to face the bigger man who took his meaning at once.
The Knave smiled. He couldn’t help it. “I’ll stop you. It may not be now, and it may not be in this place, but I’ll stop you.”
“You say that, knowing my army has never lost a battle.”
“A person who has never lost is a person who has never learned the value of triumph.”
“And you think you’re the one to succeed where all others have failed?”
“Yes, because you’re my responsibility.”
The Prince raised an eyebrow.”How do you mean?”
It was The Knave’s turn to look away, but instead of visions of what might be, he saw images of the past. He smiled, and it was one filled with more sadness than joy. He spoke into the past as much as he spoke to the man he would one day face on some distant battlefield. He said, "I remember when I was five we were still living in that slum in Baltimore and your parents had just arrived in the U.S. My mom's was the first place they visited and she was glad they’d decided to move to America. I was eating when they walked in. I stopped eating when I saw your mom holding something in her arms. I didn't know what it was, until it started moving." He paused, and a small smile formed on his face.
"It was you. You were a month old. Your mom saw me looking at you and walked over. She bent over so I could take a look and there you were. You were this little brown baby with black hair. Your mom asked me if I wanted to hold you." The Knave chuckled. "My mom said that I'd get whacked across my butt if I dropped you but I promised I wouldn't. So, your mom held you out to me and I took you. God, you were so small. I remember... I remember staring down at you and you looked up at me with large black eyes. You smiled and grabbed one of my fingers; I couldn’t help but laugh then. Your mom told me you were special, that you were going to be great one day. I thought, yeah, you were.” The Knave trailed off.
“Yes, my mom told me about it a long time ago,” said The Prince.
“She also asked me to look after you, to take care of you.”
The Prince nodded. “Yes, and you always have.”
Both men were looking at one another and just like that, they were well met in peace, even if just for this brief moment in time. The tension between them had been replaced by the affection forged in love as much as it was in blood. If the world and their lives hadn’t changed that affection could’ve remained unbroken. But it wasn’t meant to be. Both men knew it and each in their own way thought if there was a life after this one, they hoped things would be different.
The Knave said, "You won't change your mind."
"I won't. I can't," said The Prince.
The Knave nodded once and then walked up to his cousin. They looked at one another, and only the two men knew what they were thinking at that moment. They embraced and the act was bittersweet for them both. It would be the last time.
Breaking away, The Prince said his cousin's name and said, "I love you, brother."
"I love you, brother," said The Knave.
With that, The Prince smiled one last time before walking out the door. The Knave waited, and then left the room.