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Description
Phoenix waited on the moonlit steps of the pyramid near the of the Royal Chamber that she and Goth shared.  She knew that the king would return here before dawn, as he always did.  Vulcan was asleep inside, his wound finally no longer bleeding.  Rage burned in her veins every time she thought about her son's injured shoulder.  The surgeons had said that they believed he would still be able to fly once it healed, but there would definitely be some permanent damage.

In other words, her son would be crippled.

Phoenix' eyes glittered fiercely as she caught sight of Goth flying toward the pyramid.  The male flew not into the Royal Chamber that housed his injured son, but into the chamber right below it, without so much as a glance in her direction.  Phoenix opened her wings and followed him, finding him roosting in the very center of the ceiling.

Goth was stretching his wings.  He folded them against his body and gazed at her impassively.  "What do you want?"

Phoenix roosted as well, but put a wingspan and a half's distance between them.  Her body shuddered with fury.  "The surgeons say he'll be crippled," she said behind clenched teeth.

"Then he'll still be able to fly," Goth replied flatly.

Phoenix was so stunned that, for a moment, she could only stare at him with her mouth agape.  She couldn't believe what she was hearing.  "Goth, I don't think you've even realized what you've done!  He's your son-"

"I know exactly what I've done; I've given him a warning, and he'll do well to heed it!" Goth snarled at her, his volcanic temper already rising.

"You've crippled him!" Phoenix shrieked.  "How could you do that to your only son?  Whoever heard of a crippled king?!"

"If you think that he is no longer suitable as an heir to the throne, it isn't as if you're too old to have another now, is it?" he said derisively, giving her a wry smirk.

Phoenix had no response to this and said nothing.  Quivering with wrath, she involuntarily flexed her claws, wishing with every fiber of her being that she could slash his throat open.  "You'll regret this, Goth," she growled.

"Do you want to know what I regret, Phoenix?" he asked coldly.  "I regret rescuing you from those Humans.  I should have let them have you."

"I bet you would have, Goth," she snapped, "if Zotz wouldn't have punished you for it."

The king laughed mirthlessly.  "Well, aren't you clever?"

Phoenix abruptly launched herself at him with a snarl, claws extended.  She crashed into Goth, knocking him from his roost, and the pair fell to the stone floor, her on top of him.  Goth snarled with pain and anger as her claws scored deep gouges across his chest, and then, like he had done to his son, threw her off by lashing out viciously with his mighty wings.  Phoenix was on the floor for only a second before hurling herself back at him, but this time, Goth was ready for her.  He caught her and twisted his body around so that he fell on top of her, and, just as quickly as the battle had begun, it was over.

With Goth's claws digging viciously into her shoulders, her wings pinned by his, Phoenix panted heavily, her eyes radiating pure hatred.  "Get off of me."

"No," Goth said calmly.  "I won't.  I'm beginning to think that you need something to remind you who is king, like Vulcan.  What do you think?"

Phoenix' eyes widened and she began squirming beneath him, trying to push him off.  "Let me go!"  She yelped when Goth's lethally sharp claws sunk further into her soft flesh.

"Enough," he growled.  Running a wickedly sharp thumbclaw across her neck, he said darkly, "I may not be able to slit your throat-" he paused and brought his glistening, hound-like fangs close to her face, "-or tear out your heart.  But there are other things I can do.  Things that will make you wish I had killed you."

"I'm not scared of you," she retorted.  Another squeeze of his sharp claws silenced her.

"I know that you don't want me to hurt you, Phoenix," he said softly.  "From now on, you will address me with all the respect due to the king of this colony, or I will give you a scar to match your son's."

Vulcan lay on the cool stone floor of the Royal Chamber, staring up at the dark ceiling.  He had heard everything that had passed between his parents except Goth's last words, and inwardly he was seething with rage.

Crippled.  Phoenix hadn't told him that he would be crippled.

And his father.  Goth wasn't the least bit upset about the news; he had thought that what he had done to him was justified.  Then, he had even suggested that his mate bear another heir to hide the shame of his first son!

Hearing his mother cry out again, Vulcan tried to get up, to go to her, but his wound immediately opened up again and began bleeding, and he dropped back down, panting from the great exertion of that small action.  He despised being weak, and with a cold feeling, he wondered how long he would be like this.  Wounded.  Defenseless.  Crippled.

Had his father been serious when he had suggested having another child?  If he was, what would happen to him, the firstborn?  Surely Goth would kill him.  But what about Phoenix?  Would she allow him to do something like that?  Did she have any choice?

With black thoughts haunting him, the prince shut his eyes tight and fell into a fitful, troubled sleep.

Description
Phoenix waited on the moonlit steps of the pyramid near the of the Royal Chamber that she and Goth shared.  She knew that the king would return here before dawn, as he always did.  Vulcan was asleep inside, his wound finally no longer bleeding.  Rage burned in her veins every time she thought about her son's injured shoulder.  The surgeons had said that they believed he would still be able to fly once it healed, but there would definitely be some permanent damage.

In other words, her son would be crippled.

Phoenix' eyes glittered fiercely as she caught sight of Goth flying toward the pyramid.  The male flew not into the Royal Chamber that housed his injured son, but into the chamber right below it, without so much as a glance in her direction.  Phoenix opened her wings and followed him, finding him roosting in the very center of the ceiling.

Goth was stretching his wings.  He folded them against his body and gazed at her impassively.  "What do you want?"

Phoenix roosted as well, but put a wingspan and a half's distance between them.  Her body shuddered with fury.  "The surgeons say he'll be crippled," she said behind clenched teeth.

"Then he'll still be able to fly," Goth replied flatly.

Phoenix was so stunned that, for a moment, she could only stare at him with her mouth agape.  She couldn't believe what she was hearing.  "Goth, I don't think you've even realized what you've done!  He's your son-"

"I know exactly what I've done; I've given him a warning, and he'll do well to heed it!" Goth snarled at her, his volcanic temper already rising.

"You've crippled him!" Phoenix shrieked.  "How could you do that to your only son?  Whoever heard of a crippled king?!"

"If you think that he is no longer suitable as an heir to the throne, it isn't as if you're too old to have another now, is it?" he said derisively, giving her a wry smirk.

Phoenix had no response to this and said nothing.  Quivering with wrath, she involuntarily flexed her claws, wishing with every fiber of her being that she could slash his throat open.  "You'll regret this, Goth," she growled.

"Do you want to know what I regret, Phoenix?" he asked coldly.  "I regret rescuing you from those Humans.  I should have let them have you."

"I bet you would have, Goth," she snapped, "if Zotz wouldn't have punished you for it."

The king laughed mirthlessly.  "Well, aren't you clever?"

Phoenix abruptly launched herself at him with a snarl, claws extended.  She crashed into Goth, knocking him from his roost, and the pair fell to the stone floor, her on top of him.  Goth snarled with pain and anger as her claws scored deep gouges across his chest, and then, like he had done to his son, threw her off by lashing out viciously with his mighty wings.  Phoenix was on the floor for only a second before hurling herself back at him, but this time, Goth was ready for her.  He caught her and twisted his body around so that he fell on top of her, and, just as quickly as the battle had begun, it was over.

With Goth's claws digging viciously into her shoulders, her wings pinned by his, Phoenix panted heavily, her eyes radiating pure hatred.  "Get off of me."

"No," Goth said calmly.  "I won't.  I'm beginning to think that you need something to remind you who is king, like Vulcan.  What do you think?"

Phoenix' eyes widened and she began squirming beneath him, trying to push him off.  "Let me go!"  She yelped when Goth's lethally sharp claws sunk further into her soft flesh.

"Enough," he growled.  Running a wickedly sharp thumbclaw across her neck, he said darkly, "I may not be able to slit your throat-" he paused and brought his glistening, hound-like fangs close to her face, "-or tear out your heart.  But there are other things I can do.  Things that will make you wish I had killed you."

"I'm not scared of you," she retorted.  Another squeeze of his sharp claws silenced her.

"I know that you don't want me to hurt you, Phoenix," he said softly.  "From now on, you will address me with all the respect due to the king of this colony, or I will give you a scar to match your son's."

Vulcan lay on the cool stone floor of the Royal Chamber, staring up at the dark ceiling.  He had heard everything that had passed between his parents except Goth's last words, and inwardly he was seething with rage.

Crippled.  Phoenix hadn't told him that he would be crippled.

And his father.  Goth wasn't the least bit upset about the news; he had thought that what he had done to him was justified.  Then, he had even suggested that his mate bear another heir to hide the shame of his first son!

Hearing his mother cry out again, Vulcan tried to get up, to go to her, but his wound immediately opened up again and began bleeding, and he dropped back down, panting from the great exertion of that small action.  He despised being weak, and with a cold feeling, he wondered how long he would be like this.  Wounded.  Defenseless.  Crippled.

Had his father been serious when he had suggested having another child?  If he was, what would happen to him, the firstborn?  Surely Goth would kill him.  But what about Phoenix?  Would she allow him to do something like that?  Did she have any choice?

With black thoughts haunting him, the prince shut his eyes tight and fell into a fitful, troubled sleep.