Part 3
"What do you mean you don't want to be the fucking Emperor?" Tatiana shouted. "You'd be the most powerful man on Karand!"
"I don't want that!" Niall yelled back. "You saw what it did to mother! Her paranoia consumed her!"
"You don't have a fucking choice!" Lena practically screamed at him. "You're the eldest son!"
"I'd rather die!" Niall angrily shouted. "Listen, all of you listen! I will not take the throne! I'll die before I do!"
As Niall and his sisters continued to scream at each other, Finnigan and Connor quietly approached Heather, who was sitting at the back with Hamlin and the young grandchildren, who weren't really sure what was going on.
"Father, what are we going to do?" Finnigan asked.
"I don't know." Heather admitted, to which Hamlin nodded. "I suspected he didn't want to be Emperor for a very long time, but I should have asked him years ago."
"Grandpa, what's going on?" One of the grandchildren asked. "Why are my aunts and uncle Niall so angry?"
"Because your uncle is being forced to do something he never wanted to do." Finnigan gently explained to his son. "I'd make a terrible Emperor, so I'll have to pass on that as well."
"I'll do it." Connor said quietly.
"Hmmm?" Heather asked. "Connor what did you say I didn't catch that?"
"I said I'll do it, Father." Connor said, louder this time. "Niall doesn't want it, Finnigan can't, there's nobody else left."
"Connor there's no going back on this." Heather said, warning him.
"Nobody in this family ever thought much of me, did they Father?" Connor asked.
Heather didn't answer. It felt like he was talking to Victoria all over again. Connor was right, which made the similarities even more pronounced.
"That silence is all I needed to hear, Father." Connor said angrily. "Even you saw me as a simpleton!"
"That's not true!" Heather said, defending himself. "You never seemed cut out for ruling. I love all of my children, and I spent enough years defending all of you to your mother, I'm not going to be badgered by my own children over my thoughts on them!"
"Hold on." Hamlin said, interrupting. "Prove it, Connor."
"Prove what?"
"Prove you have the strength to rule. Look at your brother and sisters. Stop that argument right now without using your fists." Hamlin challenged Connor, pointing at the increasingly angry bundle of rage at the altar.
Connor looked at his siblings, and then back at Heather, who nodded.
"If you can get them to stop, the throne is yours." Heather added.
"In front of my son and daughter?" Connor asked, gesturing at his young children. "If I must."
Connor approached Niall and his sisters, who were paying him no mind and continuing to shout and scream at each other. After waiting patiently for a few seconds, he had enough.
"Silence!" Connor shouted at such a surprising volume that he drowned them all out. "In the name of the Ashen Throne I command you all to silence!"
Niall, Verka, Lena, Tatiana, and Zoya were so shocked by Connor's outburst that the argument died away instantly, and they turned to look at him expectantly.
"I will take the throne." Connor said, his voice booming with authority. "I will be the Ashen Emperor, and there will be no more to say on this subject. Niall!"
"Ummm... yes?" Niall said, surprised that his quiet youngest brother was capable of projecting such authority so effortlessly.
"You will be given a Duchy, and you will rule it fairly and justly. I hereby revive the title of Duke of Lichfield. You have voluntarily given up the throne, and so you will forfeit the title of Prince." Connor stated, his words coming out as if he was already the Emperor. "As for my sisters."
Connor turned and looked at his sisters, who looked ashamed for having been yelling at Niall just a few moments ago. He shook his head and sighed.