My heart beats for the first time in years. Once. Twice. A third time, then a fourth. I gasp, my body falling still. "What is it, Ice?" Brook takes a step towards me.

"It's... My heart. It's beating." My voice falls to a whisper.

I can't believe it. My heart is beating! My heart, which has only beat three times per year for who knows how long, it beating! I want to scream it from the top of every tree on Ragdon!

"S-so what was that before?" Clap frowns.

"That was my heart melting, Clap." I watch my claws dig into the soil, and I shift as if testing out a new body.

"Why did i-i-it melt?"

"It was frozen by King Garonda XIV. To find it, I guess I had to find you, Clap."

"He's not the King," Phoenix snarls.

"Huh?" I push myself up to a sitting position to look at Phoenix.

"He's not the King of Ragdon. He's worthl-."

"Phoenix! Be nice!" Ky bats his brother across the face with a forepaw. Phoenix scowls in reply, curling his lips into a snarl.

"What do you mean he's not the King of Ragdon? He sits upon the Amethyst Throne. Sure, the power from the Throne has corrupted his mind and twisted him into a self-centered shell of who he once was, but he's the King. Whoever sits upon the Amethyst Throne is the King; the Throne draws its power from Ragdon. Whoever sits upon the Throne possesses the power-."

"I'm just gonna cut you off right there, Ice. Just 'cuz someone sits upon the Amethyst Throne doesn't mean that they're the King!"

"Sure it does."

"How so?"

"Well, I mean, everyone bows before him. Everything just kinda goes with him at the top, and no one's challenged him, so..." My voice trails off.

"No one's challenged him 'cuz he won't let anyone!" Ky cries.

"I never said he was my favorite King. I just said he is the King of Ragdon."

"But it was implied." Phoenix tilts his head to the side as he glowers at me.

"He's the King of Ragdon, whether I like it or not."

"Aren't ya gonna do anything about it?" I snort at Ky's ignorant statement.

"Good luck."

"Not gonna need it. I've already called dibs on killing KG14. When I do, there's gonna be nothing left but a pile of ashes." Phoenix's face contorts into a sick grin as his flames start to crackle and blaze.

"Don't underestimate him. The power he wields from the Amethyst Throne is-."

"Blah, blah, blah. All I'm hearing is a coward who won't stand up to the King."

"Hey! Be nice t-to my dad!" Clap scowls at Phoenix.

"Yeah? Well, what are ya gonna do about it, Clap?"

"Be nice t-t-to him!" Clap fluffs out her fur.

"Oh, and now I'm so scared. Ah, well, I might as well run away now."

"Good l-luck with that! I-I-I can outrun you!"

He's being sarcastic, Clap. You know that, right?

"You really think I'm gonna run away from a fight? That's what a coward would do. Look at Ice here. I'd bet he'd run away in a fight."

He really thinks I'd run away. All these years of not being able to physically fight has taught me a thing or two about controlling my magic.

I rise to my paws and take a step forward. The ice coating the ground spreads out, and it quickly encircles Phoenix.

"You really think a bit of ice is gonna scare me? Try harder next time." Phoenix's flames quickly melt a bigger gap in the ice.

"Maybe be a bit nicer to your elders in the future." I let the ice spread upwards, making a bigger wall around the black cat.

"Maybe I would if you weren't such a coward!" Flames surround Phoenix, turning him into an inferno. Phoenix lunges at me with a roar. I take a step back, and a wall of ice appears in front of the black cat. He slams into it, steam rising from his pelt with a hiss as fire meets water. When Phoenix starts at me again, I wrap a band of ice around his forepaws. The black cat crashes to the ground as his forelegs become stuck. I continually add to it as he lets his fire blaze. Phoenix's muscles strain and his flames crackle and burn until he frees himself.

"Is that all you've got? 'Cuz that's nothing."

"Sure it is."

"Yeah? And how so? Can you melt anything around you?"

"No. Ice can't melt anything, but I can freeze anything. Care to see?" I lazily smile at Phoenix.

"I don't believe you." Phoenix draws his ears back.

"Ok." I start to freeze Phoenix's veins, bit by bit as I don't want to kill him. Just prove to him that I could, in fact, beat him if I so desired.

"What the hell?" Phoenix jumps, looking at his paws and shifting in place, clearly uncomfortable. He snarls as I let the ice spread a little more. Flames blaze hotter across his pelt.

"Wh-what's he doing?" I hear Clap ask Brook.

"Don't worry. He won't die. I'm just freezing his veins ever so slightly." I shrug.

"What? What did you say you're doing?" Ky sprints up to me, his toes splaying and his claws digging into the ice.

"Relax. He'll be fine. I'm just doing this until Phoenix comes to realize that I actually could beat him in a fight." I raise an eyebrow at Phoenix.

"He's gonna die! You're freezing him!" Ky looks at me in horror.

"No, he's not going to die."

"He's-. He's-. What are you doing to him?"

"This will stop when you-."

"Stop this right now, Ice. Stop it right now." Ky bares his teeth, fluffing out his fur. His eyes begin to glaze over. What's he doing?

"Ice! You're going to kill him!" Brook tries to come closer, but her hooves slip on the ice, forcing her back.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are! Look at him, Ice. What part of how he's acting seems normal? You're freezing his veins! Stop it!" Wolf angrily gestures towards Phoenix. The black cat is panting for breath, and his flames have turned partially blue.

What have I done? I'm becoming the part of King Garonda XIV that I hate the most. What am I doing? I'm... What have I done to Phoenix?

My ears fall as I look at Phoenix and then the group in horror.

"I-I'm sorry." I turn around and run. I release my hold on the ice in Phoenix's veins, and I can hear him breathe a sigh of relief before telling his brother how much he hates me.

I don't stop running until my legs hurt so much that I cannot run for any longer. The ground freezes as ice rises in walls to create a small cave around me, and I collapse as I curl up. Exhaustion settles over me like a blanket. My mind is spinning at a million miles an hour.

Why did I do that to Phoenix? Why did I partially freeze his veins? That's something I've hated King Garonda XIV each and every day, so why did I do that to Phoenix? What made me want to do that if I'd never wish the pain upon someone else? I force the thoughts from my head as I close my eyes and try to sleep, but it continues to evade me despite how tired I am.

The moon rises into the sky, accompanied by countless stars. I zone out, lightly dozing until the night begins to draw to a close. My paws tingle with the newly returned blood flow. My heart beats steadily in my chest, a sensation I had long forgotten.

xxxx

I return to King Garonda XIV's palace sometime shortly after dawn. Its marble walls stretch high to the sky. Off in the distance, workers are already hard at work, adding to the King of Ragdon's already monstrous palace. A group of half a dozen workers are dragging a block of marble with some ropes and logs. They scatter as I slowly pad toward the back entrance of the palace, staring at me as I leave a trail of ice behind, but I pay them no mind. But little do they know my frozen heart has melted.

My paw steps echo in the empty hallways as I make my way to King Garonda XIV. Let's see what he says this time. The Guard and Soldiers standing at the doorway to King Garonda XIV and the Amethyst Throne move to block me when I approach. "State your business," one of the Soldiers demands.

"I was told to come here when I returned and pay a visit to King Garonda XIV," I mutter in reply. Goodness gracious, I could really use a nap.

"How dare you refer to your King as anything bu-." The Soldier advances upon me, but he stops when a voice sounds from within the room.

"Hi! Come on in! It'll be a party! Come in, come in, come in!" The Soldier stiffens, resuming his formal and cold demeanor and opens the door for me.

King Garonda XIV is lounging on the Amethyst Throne with a leg thrown over one of the arms. His golden crown rests crookedly on his jet black hair. He looks up when I approach him. Oh, no. His eyes have far more red in them than usual. At least a quarter of his eyes are red lines. His mind has been consumed more by the power of the Amethyst Throne.

"Bow before your King." I exhale a sigh before crouching down and turning my head to the side.

"You may rise, Ice." I stand back up and look in King Garonda XIV's general direction.

"Thank you," I reply.

"So you didn't return by the time dinner was served to me, like I'd asked," he states with a frown.

"Sorry."

"Wait, Ice."

"Huh?"

"What happened to the blood?" A hint of fear weaves its way into King Garonda XIV's voice.

"The blood?"

"You found her, didn't you?"

"Found who?" What the hell is he talking about?

"Is your heart beating, Ice?"

"Uh," I start. How do I answer this?

"You were never supposed to find her!"

"This wouldn't've happened had you not forced me to send Clap away, along with Brook!" I snap, completely forgetting what happens if you cross King Garonda XIV.

"I wouldn't've frozen your heart had you not tried to get me to step down from the Amethyst Throne."

"You know what it's doing to you. All that power is corrupting your mind."

"What did you say? I know very well what I'm doing with the Amethyst Throne. It's not doing anything to me; I'm controlling the power and forcing it to bend to my will."

"Yeah, right." That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

"Your heart should still be frozen."

"Why did you even do this to me?"

"You tried to separate me from the Amethyst Throne! Without it, I'm nothing!"

"No, you're nothing but a shell of your old self with the Amethyst Throne. Before, you were my best friend. Now? Now, you're nothing. Fight it- you can still break free."

"I should kill you right now for what you have just said." King Garonda XIV shoves the blanket that was covering him to the side and sits upright, the red lines in his eyes pulsing with light.

"Do it. I dare you to, Bryant." If I have to fight him to get him to get off of the Amethyst Throne, I'll do it. I just want the old Bryant back.

"What did you just call me." Thinly concealed anger simmers just below the surface.

"Bryant. It's your real name. I don't know where you came up with King Garonda XIV, but you're Bryant."

"Shut up! Never, ever call me by that name again! I am King Garonda XIV!" And now he sounds like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum. "Someone release the rats."

Rats? What the hell does he mean by that? Sure enough, a door opens and a wave of furry, screeching bodies race across the marble, claws clicking against the marble. The rats look ridiculous, all of them being covered in little pieces of armor held together by leather straps. I'm not sure what they had been fed, but they are at least three times the size they should be.

"Meet my rats. There are twenty-six of them, named A through Z." Their beady red eyes are trained on me as they wait, listening patiently for the word to attack. "Apologize and I'll call the rats off."

Why won't you just fight it? Fight it, Bryant. You can still come back and be the friend you used to be. I know you're in there somewhere, just waiting to break free.

"Attack!" The rats lunge at me, fifty-two pairs of feet racing across the marble. I shudder as I watch them. That's disgusting, those beady red eyes and skinny, pink tails. With a few strides, I launch myself upwards, cutting the jugular of two of the rats with the shards on my tail as I jump over them. I curl and uncurl my spine as I run as fast as I can towards King Garonda XIV and the Amethyst Throne. He frowns, reaching out a hand when I throw myself at him. My paws wrap around his shoulders. I rip him from the Amethyst Throne, and we tumble to the ground.

Thank you for reading the latest installation of The King's Remorse! I hope you're enjoying this story! If you did, please vote and leave a comment.

Ooh, Ice just took King Garonda XIV off of the Amethyst Throne. What's going to happen now? Do you remember what happened the last time King Garonda XIV left the Amethyst Throne?

Should we really be calling King Garonda XIV by that name? Ice thinks it's Bryant, but King Garonda XIV -or Bryant- thinks otherwise.

Ice's heart has been melted... but will it stay that way for long? Bryant/King Garonda XIV were friends, but now the Amethyst Throne has supposedly corrupted his mind. 

-Werewolf14-