Dark Stag Ch. 08

"You are just pestilence on this palace." Father said through the grit of his teeth.

"You don't know the half of it." I smiled.

"I could just knock the living piss out of you RIGHT NOW!!" Father said, rushing towards me.

"NO..." Mother screamed, coming to stand between us. She hugged father, whispering something in his ear. The man scowled at me before leaving the room, continuing to crunch glass under his boots.

Mother's gaze was unrelenting as she stared at me with concern. She waited for the sound of the door to close.

"Why do you have information on salts over there?" Mother asked, her eyes drilling into my well being.

"Don't worry about it mother... I'm just doing some research." I said, hoping she would believe me.

"I'm not your father! He doesn't know you like I do so he can't see through you! Now tell me..." She demanded. It then hit me... Mother had no idea father was on these drugs.

"Mother... I'm just really worried about father... really worried. He has changed a lot." I said.

"And what does that," She pointed to the lithium opioid papers on my desk, "have to do with anything..." All I could was just shake my head, refusing to talk. She grabbed my face, forcing me to look at her, "Hello?" I still refused to talk, "Just clean this room up..."

She left, closing the door behind her. I was glad she did. I was literally five seconds away from spilling everything to her. Those cold blue eyes she had could get everything she wanted. I did as was told, cleaning up the shattered glass. A lot of things in this room had to be replaced though, but it was worth it. It let Sir Socoshian know that he no longer had the same grasp on me that he normally did.

The night shift began for the palace staff. I went back down to the shipment dock, and there Sir Eleonard was, checking every box and crate off on his clipboard.

"May I help you?" He asked, not looking up.

"Yes, I was wondering could I have access to the safe records?" I smiled. He finally looked up, seeing I was the prince.

"Why?" He asked, a bit concerned.

"I need to see who signs off on a particular shipment order for an item." I said.

"Sure..." He said, leading me into the office. He quickly punched in the codes for the safe, taking out the pile of documents. I began reading over them, and just as I suspected, Sir Socoshian was the only one who signed off on the shipments of nitric acid over the past six months. Sir Eleonard didn't even touch these documents.

The flask shipment documents only dated back to five months.

"So that is when all of this started...? But why?" I asked, still having too many missing pieces. Sir Eleonard looked extremely confused, as I began to look over the rest of the documents for any more signs.

"What are you looking at?" Sir Eleonard asked.

"Nothing..." I responded, trying to think where would lithium citrate be located. It was afterall, a mood stabilizer, "I'm taking these records with me..."

"You can't do that!" Sir Eleonard said, coming over to stop me.

"Watch me..." I said back.

I took all the records of the nitric acid flasks with me. I placed them in my room as I headed back down to head to the medicinal corp. It was located on one of the numerous cobbled paths on the upper ring, between the palace in the prestige neighborhoods. Just as I was leaving the palace I was stopped by my brother and his old entourage.

"Where have you been all day?" Richard asked. I looked at the Robin, Snare and Miles, very unimpressed.

"Really?" I asked him, bordering on disgust. The three boys looked back and forth between each other, surprised by my blatant disdain for them.

"Really what?" Richard responded. I rushed past him, growing upset with the boy's antics.

"You're just as blind as your father." I sighed, continuing on my way.

"What the FUCK does that even mean?" He asked.

"You know damn WELL these boys don't give a FUCK about you apart from the money you have! You know this, yet you still entertain them! Just have fun..." I sighed, so done with him.

After a brisk fifteen minute walk on the windy hills, I arrived to the medicinal corp. This was an environment that I wasn't familiar with, so I had to play it careful.

"Hi..." I smiled at the receptionist, "I'm prince Roi... I was wondering have there been any major shipments of lithium citrate running through here?"

"Give me a moment. I'll bring the chief of inventory out to answer your questions..." The receptionist smiled. He left, returning minutes later with the chief.

"Yes?" The chief asked.

"I was curious to know of any large shipments of lithium citrate came through here." I asked with a grim.

"Come with me." The chief said. I followed him into a massive room, filled with binders of paperwork. He began, sorting through them, finding numerous orders for such drugs, "Here are about five."

"Okay, thank you." I smiled, reading them. All of them were signed by none other than Sir Socoshian. This was another nail in his coffin as far as I was concerned, "Do you mind if I take these?"

"Sure..." The chief responded, unsure how these could be useful to me.

I left returning to my room. The last piece to this puzzle was learning precisely how this drug could be synthesized. Simply mixing nitric acid and lithium citrate wouldn't result on the forming of lithium opioids. There was something else I was missing. I took a seat at my desk and began reading.

"Okay..." I began, "Though nitric acid is not the most stable acid, lithium citrate takes effort to get into a state in which it is able to react with nitric acid to produce lithium opioids. Many agents can be used in catalyzing the substances for use including, peroxide, baking soda, bleach, and borax. Upon mixing of these three chemicals, a volatile reaction will occur, one that can cause explosions and chemical burns. Extreme pressure is needed to contain the reaction in order to turn it into lithium opioids," I stopped reading, "So... peroxide, baking soda and bleach? All of those are bases... Extreme pressure?" I thought long and hard on would could provide extreme enough pressure to produce this reaction. There were massive vacuum lock cauldrons deep in the depths of the cellar. I continued to read, "It is important to note that air makes this reaction all the more unstable. The exclusion of air makes the reaction far less volatile and far more efficient. It also makes for a purer form of the lithium opioid salt with no to little oxidation." This was beginning to taxi across ground I knew little about.

Nonetheless, I returned to the shipping dock. Sir Eleonard was still there, again surprised by my presence. He probably was quite upset with me showing up.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Do you know if anyone has been using the pressurized cauldrons in the the cellar?" I asked.

"Um, they'd have to check out with me first." He said, "Why?"

"I'm just trying to make sure of something..." I said.

He looked at me suspiciously before heading down the stairs into the cellar. I followed. He stopped, shocked at the sight.

"We're missing one..." He said, jaw hanging.

"How many are there suppose to be?" I asked.

"Five. There are only four..." He said, looking everywhere around the cellar. Maybe someone had moved it. However, it was nowhere to be seen in the massive cellar.

I stood in front of a door, one bolted shut. It wasn't normally secured like this so something was up.

"Maybe it's in here..." I said. Sir Eleonard came rushing over.

"Who the fuck locked this door?" He asked, "God, the king is gonna be pissed... Wait, how'd you know?"

"I'm..." I hesitated, "Trying to get to the bottom of something..."

"What?" He asked.

"I feel like my father's in danger and he's too blind to see it so I..." It then hit me, "I need your help..."

"My help?" He asked, shocked.

"I have no one here to trust... You know little of my plans so I just need you to confirm that one of your cauldrons is missing without your authorization tomorrow at the brunch... That is all." I smiled.

"I can do that." He nodded.

"Great." I said, leaving. It was now showtime.

However, I wasn't done. I was going to get into that room of the cellar that night. I snuck back in with a frozen nitrogen tank, a syringe, jar of water, and a pair of tongues. I grabbed the syringe, filling it with water. Then I grabbed the lock holding it upside down. I squirted the water into the keyhole, before grabbing the nitrogen tank. This part always was nerve wracking. As I held the lock with the tongues, I began spray it with the frozen nitrogen.

"What are you doing?" Sir Eleonard asked.

"I couldn't wait... I know something telltale is in here. You might want to stand back..." I said. The frozen nitrogen caused the water to expand to the point that the pressure expanded the lock past its breaking point. It popped open, falling off the door.

Sir Eleonard stepped forward, his curiosity drawn. We entered the room, Sir Eleonard's missing cauldron sitting in the rear.

"So, it was in here!" He said. However, something else had caught my eye. Sitting on a clipboard were strange written documents. They were written requests for the nitric acid and lithium citrate, both with specific addresses not that of the palace. I took these, looking at the rows of borax lining the shelves below.

The room was filled with a portable oxygen tank, vacuum pump and battery powered lights, all to reduce the risk of a volatile reaction.

"What is all of this stuff?" Sir Eleonard asked.

"Evidence..." I said back, ready to leave, "Let's get out of here..."

"You know who did this?" Sir Eleonard asked.

"I do..." I said back as we both left the scene.

The next day had come, and I had all the evidence I needed: the flasks, the records from the palace inventory, and the records from the clinic. I got dressed, dressed like I normally did. So many hopes were riding on what would happen this morning, as I sat at the vanity, staring at the mirror. Richard had come in, looking worried.

"Are you okay bro?" He asked.

"I'm fine." I smiled. He sat next to me, feeling it was an open invite for things to go back to normal.

"I'm sorry if I said, or did anything that offended you... Sorry for having a hard time believing you, but you are my brother and I do love you and wish you well!" He apologize.

"No need for that... I understand." I said, not bothering to look at him.

"Okay, what does that mean?" He asked.

"It means, brother's fight." I shrugged.

"Oh... See, you've been on a clever string of word use that I'm not quite used to so I'm thinking everything is just a double entendre." He laughed. I slowly looked at him, my face void of any emotion.

"It might be." I thinly smiled, getting up. It left the boy scratching his head.

I took a once over of all the evidence before looking out the window in the hall. The table was filling up, the only one missing being me. I grabbed all the evidence I needed, heading down the stairs. Just as I was on my way out, Sir Eleonard was helping to bring out the food.

"This boy is always late..." Father said as he saw me coming down the hall. Alarm spread across his face as he saw I was carrying the black pillowcase. Even mother was confused.

I turned the bag upside down, dumping the thirty odd flasks on the table.

"You're on salt, father?" I asked, my glare burning deep. He couldn't even come to words. His eyes darted around as he fought to find an explanation. Everyone at the table was shocked, even Sir Eleonard, "You're not the same man that began raising me. What you are now is a self destroying monster! And it's all," I turned to Sir Socoshian, sitting next to my mother, "Your fault!"

"How is it my fault?" Sir Socoshian asked. I slapped all the paperwork on the desk, from the inventory sheets in the shipping docks, to the hand written orders with foreign addresses to the clinic inventory sheets.

"Your name is on everything! How can you do this? You're supposed to care about this palace about your kingship but you're letting him kill HIMSELF!!" I said, taking steps over towards him.

"Now wait a minute... You don't know what you're talking about..." Sir Socoshian responded, ready to defend himself.

"Oh but I do! If these order forms are not enough explanation. Tell me why there are vacuum pumps, borax and a pressure sealed cauldron in the cellar? Tell me why there is hazardous material gear!I bet if I dust in there right now, all I'd find is YOUR FINGERPRINTS! How could you?" I asked him once again. The entire table was silent, eyes darting everywhere, "And in fact if that is not enough, I know precisely what this shit does you've been giving my father!" I said, slapping down all the ripped pages I had taken.

"Where did you get all of this?" Father asked.

"It doesn't matter..." I said turning back to him, "What does matters is that I brought you something to open your eyes! You let Sir Socoshian get away with too much! You know what he's done to me now look at what he's trying to do to you! You didn't care to think that if he's willing to do what he did to me he would do anything to you? You don't think he didn't know the repercussions of giving you this drug? You've been on these salts for five months! They can kill you! One more dose and you could be gone! You are showing final stage symptoms, father! Stop... while... you... can!"

"Where did you get this SHIT?" The king asked, growing upset.

"Can't you see this is a symptom of these drugs? Why are you upset?" I asked him.

"Answer ME!" He demanded, banging on the table.

"Your... ROOM!" I shouted. His anger multiplied sevenfold.

"You went behind my back and trespassed in my ROOM?" He said, rushing out of his seat, over towards me.

"STOP!" Mother said, rushing to her feet. She was the only one who could break the king out of his rampage, "Is it true?"

Everyone's eyes darted back and forth between me and my father. It was the deciding moment, between who was being honest. My heart pounded as the seconds without an answer passed.

"Yes..." He finally said, unable to look at mother's unbearable eyes.

"Really? And you're just gonna break the family apart like that? You tried to go after your first son, who after you BEAT COUNTLESS TIMES, still tried to save you? After you subjected him to abuse, disowned repeatedly, he still had enough love to try and break through to you... and this is how you treat him? Really?" She asked.

"That faggot doesn't deserve any of this!" He snarled, pointing to me. I began to back away, completely done.

"I tried..." I said, my heart tearing with each step, "I tried..." Both hand went up as I gave up.

"Roi..." Mother said, turning to me. I pointed to Sir Socoshian as I backed away, looking back at father.

"He's going to ruin you, just like he tried to ruin me... but you're too neck deep in your own shit to see it... And I won't be here to watch. I can't." I said, before looking down at Sir Socoshian, "You won!"

These were words that sank in an unimaginable way for the entire family. I turned away, walking down the stairs of the balcony.

"ROI!" Mother screamed, following me. However I didn't stop... I couldn't, "Baby," She said, grabbing my hand, "Listen to me... thank you for trying so hard to show us what was really going on. Don't leave... Stay, we can fix this together... Just don't leave!"

"Mother... not even you understand! I can't... I just tried and I can't. Ever since I was seven years old, I've been fighting this fight. I'm twenty one one and I just can't any more. It's been fourteen years of torment, abuse and neglect... And I just learned how to love myself too! You know the first step to loving yourself? Getting yourself out of a toxic environment! I've never done anything because I loved myself and this is the first day I start!" I explained.

It broke her heart. Something felt like it snapped, something between us. Here eyes were wide and wild, look she had been delivered even more tragic news. However, she knew it was little she could do. She walked back up the stairs, deeply hurt. Next to follow was Richard and Brija.

"Roi..." Richard said out, rushing to catch up with me.

"There's nothing you can say to make me stay... I'm leaving." I said.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry... You, you were right! You were absolutely right and I'm so stupid for not believing you, just please don't go..." He rambled.

"Too little, too late." I said, not bothering to look at him.

"Roi, I'm begging you..." Richard said, standing in my way.

"Boy, I will fucking fight you, now move!" I said, pushing him out of my path.

"Where are you going?" Brija asked.

"I don't understand the dramatics... You already know where I'm fucking going." I said back.

"Well, I'll be sure to write you." Brija said, not feeling as awful about it anymore.

"Don't..." I said, rolling my eyes as the girl followed.

"Not to give you updates. I can imagine... you wouldn't want them. Today just made me realize that... I really don't know my older brother." She said.

"Very well..." I shrugged, as I entered the stable.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Richard asked.

"Are you stupid?" I asked unsecuring Mercury's prized palomino's reins, "Do what you always did before we started actually being brothers. Hang out with those posers who use you!"

"Come on, Roi. Don't be that way..." Richard said, my words stabbing deep.

"Man, fuck you..." I said, riding the horse out.

There was no turning back. I was leaving this hell on earth for good...