Heir of Aurelian

A young man stood within his palace and gazed upon the reports that were in his hands. It would appear that his darling little sister had thrown in her lot with his youngest brother. An act of which that deeply infuriated the man.

Bahram was a cunning, and intelligent man who was not afraid of stabbing his opponents in their backs. It was because of this that his cousin Khosrow was no longer in the running to become the next king of kings.

However, just when he thought he had proven himself worthy in the eyes of his sister Mitra, the woman had betrayed his trust, and aligned with another one of his rivals, one which he did not take seriously until now.

If Bahram was a deeply ambitious man of high cunning, then Narseh was a calm, patient, and relatively passive man. One who did not make a move until he had perfectly cornered his opponents. He was also a man who did not care about their father's death, nor the expansion of their homeland.

In other words, he would make the perfect puppet of another mighty realm. Because of the dire situation that the Sassanid Empire now found itself in after the death of his father. Bahram knew for certain that the Romans would seek to make a puppet of his brother Narseh, whether that was directly or indirectly.

What he had not expected was that his beloved sister would turn against him and support this puppet's faction. Whether she was in league with the romans themselves, or was just an unwitting pawn, Bahram did not know. But one thing was certain, Narseh had officially made his hit list.

However, after eliminating Khosrow, all eyes were now upon him, and if he moved to assassinate another of his rivals, and family members so soon, then he would certainly lose the support of many of the nobles. In fact, before he could propose the false evidence that he had concocted regarding Khosrow's death, Narseh had curried favor with the nobles who supported their cousin, and expanded his power base exponentially.

In a matter of months, Narseh had gone from the least likely candidate to succeed the previous Shah, to being able to directly contend with his brothers, and this was the work of none other than Princess Mitra herself.

Nobody knew Bahram's personality more so than the Persian minx and as a result, she had accurately predicted her elder brother's plans to frame the assassination of his cousin on one of his two brothers. Thus, she had taken measures behind the scenes to prevent this, and instead gained the support of the nobles who supported Khosrow for the horse she had chosen to back.

Currently, a beautiful young noblewoman by the name of Hayla Getina, who was from one of the great houses of the Sassanid Empire, stood before Bahram. Despite her overwhelming beauty, the man did not look upon her with lust or affection.

Instead, his expression was cold and indifferent. He quickly ordered Hayla as if she were a mere slave to fulfill his desires, and that desire was to meet with the woman he was enthralled with, his own blood sister.

"I want to meet with Mitra immediately. I do not know why she has chosen to back Narseh, but I will give her one chance to come to my side, or face the consequences. Bring my beloved sister to me, or don't bother showing your face around here again."

Hayla did not immediately respond. Her father was one of Bahram's largest supporters and had sent her to the Prince's estate, not only to assist the man in his war of succession, but to seduce him so that he would make her his queen. Unfortunately for her, Bahram only had eyes for his sister, and thus any attempts to curry the man's favor had been met with utter failure.

For Hayla to be turned away from Bahram's home would be a massive scandal that would not only cause her father to become enraged with her, but it might also very well be the end of any worth she has to her family. Her fate would be that of a discarded asset. Thus, Hayla wanted nothing more than to taste Mitra's blood, so that the obsessed fool that was Bahram would finally see her as a woman worthy of being his queen.

Now that she was given the order to fetch Mitra, Hayla had gotten the chance to dispose of the Sassanid Princess. One that she would not fail to take advantage of. With a charming smile on her pretty face, Hayla bowed respectfully to Bahram before affirming his orders.

"I will fetch your sister at once. However, what should I do if she does not come willingly?"

Bahram's gaze became filled with intense wrath, as he glared over towards his subject with a heart filled with rage. Whenever it came to matters about his sister's willful defiance, he became a bitter and jealous man. The very prospect that she would resist coming home to him had never entered his mind. Now that Hayla had presented this very real possibility, he became angry with her. With a gnashing of his teeth, the Sassanid Prince gave the orders that Hayla wanted to hear.

"If she does not come willingly, use whatever methods necessary to bring her home by force. If you can't even manage that, then I don't have any use for you!"

Hayla's smile curled into a sneer when she heard these words. In other words, excessive force was acceptable, and it would not be her fault if something bad happened to Mitra the moment she resisted. Thus, she bowed once more to the Prince before departing.

"It is as you say... Do not fret, I will be back in a heartbeat with your beloved sister in tow..."

After saying this, Hayla left Bahram's palace, where her smile immediately faded away into a vicious frown. She could not believe the man was so obsessed with his own sister. If he was not such a dangerous man, then he would have been shunned long ago by polite society for his unhealthy thoughts.

One thing was certain, if Bahram was ever to overcome his incestuous nature, then Mitra needed to die. Something Hayla planned to personally take charge of.