I am standing in my Grandfather's estate. As usual, it seems with these visions. My father is younger than the other visions. I frown. So far, my visions have been following a story. This seems to be out of place from that. My grandfather gives my father a puppy. It is a beautiful little husky. My father's face lights up with a massive smile. He hugs Sebastian. His small frame not even making it past his hips. The man doesn't react. He just looks down at his son with a disproving glare.
"Train it. Make it obedient. It will protect you," he orders. My father grins and begins to run off with the puppy chasing him.

The vision changes. I am in the gardens again, but they have changed. My father, now older, walks along the path with a now full-grown dog next to him. The husky is beautiful and looks up at him with soft, protective eyes. My father grins and strokes the dog's fur. My grandfather appears.
"How is she?" he asks. Matthias smiles.
"I have trained her to do more!" Matthias grins. "Sit," he says and the dog sits immediately. "Lie down," he orders and the dog follows. "Sit. Stay." He begins to walk across the garden and the dog stays where it is with its tongue hanging out happily. "Come!" She jumps up excitedly and bounds over to my father. He crouches down to meet her and strokes her fur. She licks his face and he laughs.
"You seem very fond of her," grandfather says. Matthias looks up at him.
"I love her," he grins.
"Good," Sebastian says. "Come with me," he orders. My father frowns and stands up. My grandfather leads him to the dungeons, the dog following behind him. She is whining now, nervous.
"I am about to teach you a lesson about love," he says. My father gulps nervously. My grandfather grabs the dog by the collar and drags her into the cells. She tries to fight but too quickly, he has her chained to the wall. She is barking and yelping as he pulls on the chain.
"What are you doing?!" my father shouts and goes to run into the cell. My grandfather holds him back before giving him a knife.
"Kill her." My father freezes.
"What?" he asks, his face pale.
"Kill her." My hands shake and my eyes are wide.
"No," Matthias says with defiance. My grandfather stares at him with no expression on his face. Finally, he nods.
"This is your last chance. You kill her. You kill her quickly and painlessly. She will feel nothing and she will pass without knowing fear. Or you coward out of the killing. I do it and as she dies a slow agonising death whilst you watch. You or me? Your choice." My father has tears streaming down his face and his whole body is shaking. He looks down at his dog and takes the knife. She whimpers at him, looking into his eyes. He kneels down slowly and presses his face against her. She licks away his tears and nudges against him. He sobs and lifts the knife. He presses it against her fur. She whimpers again and he puts it down.
"I can't," he cries. Sebastian sighs and he feels arms warp around him. His mother. She drags him out of the cell and holds him against it, making sure he can watch.
"You made your decision, she is about to suffer because of you," my grandmother says to my father. I feel sick as I watch what is about to unfold. He is screaming in her arms but she has wrapped her legs around him. Stopping his arms and legs from moving. Then, she forces his eyes open. He must only be eight. Not old enough or strong enough to fight back against her. He is screaming and crying as my grandfather picks up the knife. The dog growls at him and is crouched low with her ears pinned back. He knocks her back with one slam against her face. He then pins her by the neck to the ground. I retch and cry as he begins to cut along the fur of her leg. Her screams and yelps of pain burn my ears as he tears her skin from her body. My father is sobbing as my grandmother makes him watch.

It takes a long time for her to die as my grandfather skins her alive. I can barely watch. My breathing is fast and tears stream down my face. Finally, she stops breathing and there is nothing but a bloody mess on the floor. My father is breathing heavily. His skin is stained from tears and his body is shaking.
"Let him go," Sebastian says. He crawls slowly into the cell over to the dog and strokes at her face. He sobs some more, his body shaking violently.
"Love makes you weak. Because of your love, she had to suffer when she could have gone peacefully. I hope we don't have to do this again, Matthias."

Fallon walks down the corridor, fresh from training. She wears black trousers and a long-sleeved top. Over that, she wears a black leather vest and leather boots over her feet. Attached to her hip is a single sword. Her brown hair is tied in a ponytail and around her eyes is black makeup to really make the cold blue colour pop. She always found that if she emphasises her piercing blue eyes with black, it would make the opponent uncomfortable.
There are splatters of blood on her skin from a particularly violent battle with a few of the guards. She had bested them all.

Even with the leather boots, Fallon walks with a predatory silence. When she hears whispers. She comes to a stop outside one of the rooms. It is her grandfather and cousin. She smiles and enters the next room. She had them put in that specific one for a reason. The room next door has a mirror. Well, it looked like a mirror in that room. It is, in fact, one-way glass. To get to the room next to it, you need a key. One that Fallon has in her pocket, just in case. She quietly opens the room and locks the door after her. She walks over to where a curtain hangs against the stone wall. She yanks it open to reveal the room beyond. Amalie is pacing whilst her grandfather sits on one of the chairs. Her grandmother brushes her hair whilst sat at the dressing table.
"This is going to be harder than we thought," Amalie snarls. "The Princesses are arrogant. They think that because Illyana is doing the True Trial, they have more power. Your stupid fucking son is letting them walk all over him!" she snaps. "That ginger bitch is undoing all the work I've been doing on Kristoff. The whore has him wrapped around her finger!" she snarls. "How am I supposed to work my way into being his official mistress if he's in fucking love with her royal cu..."
"Amalie," he warns before she can finish the word. She growls.
"Three years of work! Three years of letting him carry out whatever depraved fantasy he wanted on me and he throws me away for some royal slut!" she shouts. Go Cordelia, Fallon smiles as she sees how worked up Amalie is over this.
"Calm down," Sebastian growls. She sighs and looks at him.
"What do we do?" There is silence as they think.
"I will talk to my son. He has always submitted to me eventually. That is why he summoned me here. Part of him knows that I am the only one who can set these girls straight. That display today was his way of trying to keep control. His way of telling me that he is the king and proving his authority over us and his daughters. It won't last long. I'll break him. I have done it before and I will do it again."
"What about Fallon. Do you really think he'll hand us over to her?" Amalie looks nervous then and she gulps. Fallon smiles. Even her grandfather looks uneasy.
"Unfortunately, that girl has inherited the brutality and coldness I wish my son had. I do not want you to get in her way, Amalie." She gulps again.
"We can deal with her."
"I am serious Lee," he growls. "Piss of Cordelia and her only. I do not want Fallon to set her eyes on you because if she targets you, there is nothing I can do to stop her. Not yet, at least," he sighs. "Wait until I have Matthias under my control. Then she'll lose some of her power," he tells her. Fallon raises an eyebrow. She had been working behind her father's back for years and that wouldn't change no matter how much control Sebastian had over him.
"What about the other two?" Fallon instinctively reaches for her sword. Sebastian frowns. 
"I am not sure yet. Again, we have Fallon to deal with. She seems to be more protective over Rayana and Shaelyn than Cordelia."
"That's because Cordelia knows how to fend for herself," her grandmother says. They turn to look at her. "Cordelia is a manipulator and a good one," she says. "Look at the way she dresses and holds herself. She is a wolf in sheep's clothing. She is beautiful too. Look at how all the Nobles dress around the city and across Vivelle. Look how they have their hair. Whatever she designs and wears, a day later so the masses are imitating her. She is innocent and that is what is attracting Kristoff so much. She is his perfect queen. Likeable, obedient, pretty and most importantly pure. You've given yourself to him already. You don't have that mystery anymore. Cordelia however, she is innocently seductive. Her purity is a drug to him. He longs for the chase. He knows you can satisfy his particular needs. But right now he doesn't care about that. He wants purity and innocence." Amalie smiles.
"So we just have to break that illusion," she grins. "Once he sees she is nothing special then his interest in her will fade away and he will fall back to me. The person who can give him exactly what he wants."
"That could work. I will leave that particular route for the two of you to figure out. We still have a problem with the other two. They are not as bold, yet they are still disobedient. I need to get their attitudes sorted without Fallon finding out," he frowns. Fallon raises an eyebrow and smirks. There is no way they are getting anywhere near her sisters.
"You're dismissed. Both of you. Go and start working on Cordelia. I need to think," he tells the women. They stand and leave quickly and he leans back in his chair. Fallon hears them walk down the corridor and away from the room. She looks closely at her grandfather. His eyes are shut and his mind is twirling with some sort of plan. He stands up ready to leave. She rushes from the room and locks the door. She begins to walk down the corridor as his door opens and he exits.
"Grandfather," she smiles coldly. "I was just coming to find you." He takes a quick breath as his eyes glance down to Fallon's weapon and then the blood splattered on her face.
"Is that any way for a princess to dress?" he asks. She chuckles.
"You don't expect me to train in a dress, do you grandfather?" she asks. He glares at her and she glares right back. Not relenting. She speaks again, still not looking away from him.
"With there still being a possibility of a Queen's Trial, I am not about to quit my training. That would be stupid of me, would it not?" she asks him casually. He nods his head.
"Yes," he replies.
"Plus, with the company staying in my home at the moment, I want to make sure my skills are the best they can be. We don't want to take any risks with mine or my sister's safety, do we?"
"No," he replies still not backing down from her stare.
"You and I are similar aren't we grandfather? What is the saying I've heard about you, grandfather? Sebastian Baylon can break even the most disobedient of horses. He can also break the strongest of men. You'd consider yourself a strong man wouldn't you?" she asks. He nods his head.
"I got my son on the throne and I made my family name relevant again. No one has dared cross me and my name sends fear across all of the noble houses including the Drake's. I am a very strong man," he says with a monotone voice and Fallon can hear the threat clearly. She nods her head and chuckles.
"I wonder if breaking strong men is something else I've inherited from you." She says as she looks into the piercing icy eyes that they both seem to share. "Let's hope that nothing happens to my sisters. Or you and I will be finding out the answer together," she grins. He looks away first and she smiles and stands up straighter.
"That was a good chat, grandfather but I had best be on my way. I have more important people to talk to." She walks past him and down the corridor, a grin on her face.

The grin is off her face and her heart is racing as she gets to her father's room. She needs to talk to him. She licks her lips and raises her hand to knock before lowering it again. It had been a long time since she felt scared. She squares her shoulders and knocks on the door.
"Come in," her father's voice calls. She opens the door slowly and sees him sat at his desk. He turns to her, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Fallon," he says. She bows her head.
"Father," she says curtly. They stand in awkward silence for a few seconds before he beacons her in further. She closes the door behind her and takes a seat on one of the chairs by his desk. She doesn't know what to say and her throat dries.
"What do you want?" he asks, impatient.
"Why did you really invite Sebastian here?" she asks. It had been bugging her. When he first told them he was inviting them, it was meant to scare them. He wanted them to be disciplined so they wouldn't go sneaking off to the city or go against him. But when he was in the throne room, speaking to his father he made it very clear that he did not want them to be disciplined the way her grandfather usually disciplines those under his care. The King frowns before sighing. He doesn't answer for a few seconds. When he finally does, he looks up at Fallon with scared eyes. It takes her by surprise.
"There is so much going on that you don't understand, Fallon." His voice is so soft. He speaks in a way he had never spoken to her before. She gulps. "The longer Illyana is gone, the more agitated the council get. The more this rebellious message spreads the more they look to the four of you. I thought that with my grandfather here, they would know that he was keeping an eye on you and would stop being suspicious of the four of you," he sighs. Fallon doesn't know what to say. He shakes his head and leans back. "My father is a cruel man. Everybody knows it. If the council see he is here and looking after you whilst I am busy dealing with all the other shit, then perhaps they will leave you alone and remove their suspicions. Councilman Drake has been particularly vocal about your involvement in all of this. He and my father have a unique relationship..." he frowns. "I thought that my father's arrival would shut him up." Fallon doesn't move, she just looks at her father. So this was his way of protecting them. "It was a bad idea. I am going to put you in even more danger than you were before," she sees her father's hands shaking. "He's going to break you. Just like he broke me." Fallon sees his eyes go glassy with tears. She doesn't know what to do. She can only sit and stare. Finally, she speaks. It is a harsh whisper.
"He isn't going to break me." He looks at her and he smiles.
"You are so much like him. I struggle to even look at you because of it. Of all my daughters, you are the one I struggled to bond with the most. Of course, part of that is because I thought I was going to lose you all." He closes his eyes and leans back. "Though perhaps that is also why I brought him here. He has been pestering me too. Demanding his return to the court so he can sort all of this out. Not just you four. He thinks he can deal with Illyana better than me. He thinks he can do everything better than me. He has wormed his way into the council and they listen to him more than me. He makes me look week," he growls and punches the side of his chair. "So maybe, part of me summoned him here because I knew you could deal with him." He looks up to Fallon and she gulps. They don't say anything for a few moments.
"I don't understand my own mind, Fallon. It is like there is a cloud over it all the time. It hides all thoughts of kindness and compassion. It brings only anger, fear and pain. It is the cloud my father created and I do not know how to rid myself of it. I do not understand how to love properly anymore. I am broken." Fallon stands and walks over to the man she has hated all these years. Some of that hate disappears as she looks into his glassy eyes. Only a little bit. He is still a monster and he always will be.
"The cloud is always there. It mixes up my thoughts and it leaves me wondering why I've done the things I've done. Sometimes, I don't even remember what I've done or the orders I have given. I am not free from it thought. Never. Sometimes, I break through like the sun between a gap in the clouds. I can think reasonably clearly. Like now. But these moments of clarity are getting less and less. Soon, they won't return at all." He isn't even talking to Fallon anymore. He just stares at the wall. Fallon shakes her head. What did her grandfather do to her father whilst raising him? A tear falls down the king's cheek. He grabs her hand and pulls Fallon close to him.
"I need to protect Illyana. The council want her blood, do you understand?" he asks frantically. "They want you all dead and I am losing my control over them. I need to do something soon."
"Father," she says and places her other hand over his whilst crouching down and looking into his eyes. "I will protect my sisters," she says, her voice stern. He smiles and pats her hand.
"Good good," he says almost whimsically. Then his eyes turn dark. "Make sure he doesn't hurt them like me. Vivelle doesn't need any more rulers like me." Fallon nods.
"If Sebastian goes near my sisters, I'll fucking end him. I will ruin everything he has built. I will ruin the Baylon family and he will die screaming," she says. Matthias smiles.
"Yes, that would be appropriate," he replies. He looks back at Fallon. "Don't come back to me like this again Fallon. Don't speak to me like this again. I will not be like this the next time you see me." She nods her head and begins to leave. As she gets to the door, he calls her again. She turns to him. He smiles softly.
"I am glad all five of you are still here." Fallon doesn't know what comes over her. She rushes back to her father and almost falls in his lap. A tear falls down her cheek as pulls her large form onto his lap and hugs her tightly. He places a small kiss on her forehead and closes his eyes.
"You are all precious and you are all loved," he whispers softly to her as a few more tears fall. She had not cried for a long time and was almost embarrassed to do it in front of her father of all people. He pulls her away from him so he can look at her face. He wipes away her tear with his thumb softly.
"I want you to know before the cloud covers my mind again and probably tell you otherwise," he begins. "I love all of you. You are my baby girls and I wouldn't have changed you for the world." A tear falls down his cheek and Fallon gives him a small kiss on the forehead.
"I love you too, daddy," she gulps before standing up again. She walks out of the room quickly, not liking the wave of emotions passing over her. She hides in one of the rooms and lets the tears continue to fall silently. When they stop, she cleans herself up and makes her way to the Training fields again. Desperately needing to take her frustrations out on something or someone.