Patricide

Teruchi found himself staring at the bedroom doors closed in front of him. This was it, he knew he had to follow through. He steeled himself to this decision two weeks ago, and had carefully planned out everything to get to this point. But that was two weeks ago, back when it was just an idea. Now he had to pull the trigger.

Keeping his tray of food stable with one hand, Teruchi reached down to the door handle and slowly turned it. It might seem that he was being courteous to anyone who was sleeping in the room, but in reality he was simply delaying whatever seconds he could get.

His father was asleep inside, but awoke as Teruchi closed the door behind him. The lights were off to allow the man rest.

“Father,” Teruchi announced, closing the door behind him. “I brought dinner.”

In reality he was using his words as a cover to reach up behind his back and flip the deadbolt on his door. He wasn’t sure how coy he was being with the action, but it was necessary to keep anyone from interrupting him. To be caught red-handed now would be disastrous.

Sho Ventureni didn’t seem to notice, or at least was too weak minded to care. “Shouldn’t you be in bed as well?”

“I’m feeling better, and the servants didn’t want to spread our sickness any further.”

“It’s their damn job,” Sho murmured as he drew out a breath, closing his eyes to rest.

“I volunteered.” Not that his father would get the opportunity to punish any servants later, but Teruchi still felt the need to defend their status, especially since it was all his plan anyway.

He walked to his father’s bedside and gently placed the tray of food across his legs. It was strange seeing him this way. Teruchi and Sho shared similar builds: tall, but skinny. Sho took great strides in making himself seem large, however. He grew his hair out to an older Venturenian style, and rarely went out without a cloak or cape to increase his perceived width. But most importantly, he always spoke as if he were completely untouchable. He made no qualms about tipping his hand if it meant yours was completely exposed.

But here, none of that grandiosity shined through. Lying on his bed and underneath his covers, the only part of Sho to expose was his narrow face flushed red with fever, skin sunken with fifty years of age.

“I’m not hungry,” Sho said with the same inflection as if it were a command.

“Mother says you need to eat. She doesn’t want you to starve.” Teruchi nearly expected his old man to call his bluff: his mother didn’t care if her husband starved. She probably secretly hoped he would. But the fever allowed Sho to accept the reasoning and he reached for a loaf of bread.

Sho was in no mood to talk. Neither was Teruchi. He sat by his father’s bed and stared at the bread and soup. The meal was a timer for what he had to do.

The problem with killing a king was that their death was very heavily investigated. Had he lived in a poor family, he could have easily knocked him cold, threw a rope around his neck, and called it a suicide. No authorities would bother investigate further. But with kings, their deaths were heavily looked into, even if it were just by old age. Poison was out, they always checked for poison, and it would immediately throw suspect onto him or his family. Faking a suicide was possible but unbelievable. Hiring someone was tricky, as there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t flip and tell someone after they were paid. A prince killing his father for power? Now that made a good story.

It was a puzzling question, but one it didn’t take very long for Teruchi to figure out. The obvious answer was death magic. Funny, it was his father who pushed him to further pursue his study in magic, and that’s where he learned that such magic was real. Death magic rarely made its way into textbooks, and probably for good reason. But through cross examining the few available sources of information, Teruchi eventually came to the conclusion that death magic could be controlled just as any other element. It took weeks of work, but he eventually filled a crystal with what he assumed to be the mysterious magic. He drained a little of the magic to test his theory, and the small rodent died instantly.

He had tapped into Death’s power, and he couldn’t help but be a little smug about it.

Death magic was perfect for the job. The subject simply died with no obvious causation. In the investigators’ confusion, they would believe that his father died of a fever in the night.

That was also a part of Teruchi’s plan. He started volunteering at a nearby hospital and purposefully spent time around those with bad flus and viruses. It didn’t take long before he had caught something, and the minute he felt his throat itch and temperature rise, he did everything in his ability to transfer it to his father. It worked.

Sho put his spoon down. “I’m done. Take it away.”

Time’s up. Teruchi’s throat clenched and he stared at the sick man’s face. He made no move to clear the tray.

“Something wrong?” Sho’s voice dropped into an almost accusatory tone.

“I…” Teruchi started. It was so hard to get the words out. He imagined himself going straight for the kill, but he couldn’t do it. He was a coward. Or a decent human being for not wanting to kill his father.

But he had to ask. He’d gone so far to set this up, that even if he didn’t kill his father, he needed to at least hear it from him. It was the perfect time too. Sho was bedridden, no strength to dodge, or run, or fight.

“I know what you do to mom.”

Sho’s fevered brow furrowed. “What’s this about?”

“I can hear her after you two go to bed. I know… I know what you do to her in there!” In truth, he didn’t. Didn’t even want to know. He only had his imagination to tell him, which constantly flipped from one extreme to another.

“Stay out of my business, boy.” Any weakness shown from the fever was gone now. Sho’s eyes were completely focused on his, daring him against looking away in cowardice.

“And you lie to her!” Teruchi continued, though perhaps a bit too loud. If anyone heard them arguing before Sho’s death, then it would immediately throw suspicion onto him.

“You lie for no reason. Sometimes just to confuse her. You’re always telling her what she can and can’t do, or who she can and can’t see. You ignore Kaze, and… and…”

“I’ve never done those things! I love Jade. And for you to be unable to see that paints a sorry picture for your relationships.”

And you’re constantly getting into my private life, Teruchi thought. Serafina had called his father a creep. And she was right, Sho started asking more and more invasive questions as Teruchi became more experienced in his sex life. It started as helpful advice, but the questions eventually became less about giving pointers and more about prying. How long? What position? Groan much?

Teruchi had prepared for this. He knew facing his father about it wasn’t going to solve anything. There wasn’t much he could do, really. Jade couldn’t run away, lest she expose one of her two children to receiving the brunt of his abuse next. And that’s assuming he let her go. In reality, he’d send out a search party to bring her back. He’d hurt her worse for leaving, maybe even kill her if she disobeyed too much. Teruchi couldn’t wait to take the throne from him, as his father made no mention of giving it up in his lifetime. It was too long to wait for him to die of old age.

So he had to die now.

Teruchi pulled his crystal full of death out of his pocket. He stood and looked directly into his father’s eyes. He could do it. It was so easy, just transfer the magic from the crystal to his father. That’s all. It would only take a second.

Sho’s hand grabbed at Teruchi’s arm. His grip was much stronger than a sick old man should have been able, but it didn’t matter. As long as he was touching skin, Teruchi could transfer the magic.

He wanted to look away from his father’s burning eyes, but he couldn’t. Either morals or fear kept him locked on his anger filled gaze. Teruchi turned his palm so that the crystal pressed against Sho’s arm, and he released the magic.

Teruchi had thought the magic was completely painless. Maybe it was, but his father, even in the second it took the magic to do its work, seemed to understand exactly what was happening. Before his life had completely left him, Sho turned his expression from anger to sadness, the realization of the biggest betrayal from son to father. And then he was gone.

Sho lay limp on the bed, still gripping Teruchi’s arm with the crystal between them. Teruchi pried his father’s fingers off of him, his touch now making his skin crawl. He gulped. It was done. It was done forever.

As quickly as he could, Teruchi repositioned his father’s body to look as if he died peacefully in his sleep. He grabbed the tray of half-eaten food and hurried out the bedroom doors, nearly forgetting to unlock it first. Thankfully, there was no one around in the hall. It was just as empty as when he arrived.

He dropped off the tray at the kitchen, and then immediately excused himself for bed.

But Teruchi couldn’t sleep. In the morning they’d find his father’s body and rush in to tell him. Or they’d find it later tonight. He lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to creep upon him.

Murderer.

A tear rolled down his cheek. Teruchi went over all the justifications he had rehearsed in his head. He played them over when he got to the end of his list.

Patricide.

The next morning, Jade entered his room to deliver the news. She woke him from a fitful sleep, and saw his eyes red and puffy, cheeks glistening from a night of tears. Neither said anything, until Jade sighed and brushed his hair.

“Get some rest,” she said, and left.

The funeral was the next day, and Jade forbid Teruchi to attend it, on account of him still being ill with the “deathly disease his father succumbed to.” The day after, Teruchi got up from bed, and found his mother wearing the king’s crown, sipping her morning coffee, and completely at peace.