So, I’ve always been interested in the dynamic between Elius and Carina, and I wanted to explore Carina’s side of the relationship since she’s the only one who mentions they’re siblings. I may have gone a bit overboard with her disdain for Elius, but seeing as how we have no other insight into their relationship apart from Carina’s dialogue, I just ran with it and explored that aspect of her character. Now, my personal headcanon is that, in another life, she and Revon would bond over being overshadowed by their magic-wielding siblings and feeling inferior because of it; but, due to her personality, I believe she’s too stubborn to open up about it. So, we end up with this interpretation of her inner monologue.
Lady Carina of Ravenna, daughter of the Bronze Hound, watched her brother Elius spar with General Julian in the Shining Plains east of Rasna. She and Prince Revon stood a considerable distance from the battle, and watched flashes of violet and crystalline shards collide in thunderous booms. The Glass Curse user was far more experienced and infinitely more powerful, but Elius’s lightning magic broke through his attacks with little effort. Glass rained from the sky with each burst of light.
Carina nearly had to shield her eyes from the brightness, but her arms remained folded over her chest. She hadn’t said anything yet, but her eyes remained pinned on Elius, whose face was twisted in concentration. Some unpleasant emotion stirred in her.
Even standing still caused her to sweat. Her attention flicked to Revon, though her gaze remained fixed on Elius. She had no idea how he could stand to wear those fancy robes when it was boiling outside.
Revon was oblivious, as usual. He’d never been particularly perceptive or strong, so she had no idea why Calvus put up with him, much less held affection for him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smile slightly.
“His training is paying off,” Revon commented, jerking his chin towards Elius. Her brother’s hands and feet were crackling with energy. Magic circles hovered above his hands and behind his feet, near his Achilles tendon. Elius dodged a giant razor and tossed a lightning bolt coming for his flank, shattering the glass into thousands of pieces.
Carina merely grunted in response. Elius had put in more zeal and effort into his training recently than any other time in his life. She couldn’t imagine why. It’d do him no good. He was always weaker, and the thought hardened in her mind as she watched a piece of glass slice the outside of his thigh. Elius stumbled a step, which allowed Julian to shoot more shards at him. Some became embedded in his chestplate, others in his arms, and one grazed his cheek. Red rivulets ran down his face.
Carina watched with narrowed eyes as Elius fell to one knee and hung his head in defeat. Even from a distance, she could see his shoulders lifting considerably in a struggle to catch his breath. General Julian strode up to Elius and turned his arm into a glass sword, pointing it at her defeated brother. They stared at each other for a few long seconds before grins broke out on their faces. Julian’s arm returned to its fleshly state and hauled Elius up to his feet.
Revon clapped from beside her, but Carina remained still. The general and the lord walked up to them, Julian’s arm slung affectionately across Elius’s shoulders in such a brotherly manner it made her sick.
“Good job, Elius,” Revon said, dusting some of the glass shards off his armor.
Julian beamed like a proud older sibling would. “That was the longest you’ve lasted against me, pipsqueak. I’m proud of you.” He even ruffled Elius’s soot-colored hair. Gag.
Carina ignored Elius’s eyes on her, the way they silently asked for approval. Instead, she turned to Julian, unable to keep the sneer off her face. “I wasn’t expecting you to go so easy on him, General. The least you could do is use that Sea Curse to its full potential.”
Julian’s smile became strained. He ran a hand through his spiky, brown hair. “Carina, you know it’d kill him, or anyone for that matter, if I did that. This Curse is to be used for the benefit of Ravenna.”
She rolled her eyes. “What good is Elius’s magic if he can’t even go up against you?”
Julian bristled, but it was Revon who spoke. “There’s a difference between raw magic and Sea Curses, Carina.”
Carina turned her glare to the prince. He lacked magic, just like she did, but he was just as useless as her weak brother. “There’s also a difference between strength and none. How can we hope to keep order in the Bronze Sea if the son of the Bronze Hound can barely keep up with Argos. The old man is falling apart and even he is a challenge for Elius to beat.”
Argos had offered to train her on multiple occasions, but what good was learning how to fight from an old man? So when she’d refused his offer, he’d taken Elius under his wing instead. Ulricus had scolded her for months afterwards, but did it matter? She was born without magic and had still managed to become the best fighter in the Bronze Legion. He should’ve been proud of her.
Revon sighed, though she didn’t know why. What was so hard to understand about Elius’s incapability? If I had magic half as strong as Calvus’s, this nation wouldn’t have these issues. We wouldn’t be under the thumb of the Grand Navy or have to worry about the Assassin Syndicate. We’d eradicate the Sameria Province and wipe away all traces of Winterveil scum from the War Seas. Ravenna would be more glorious than it’s ever been, and I’d be the one leading it to victory.
Julian’s voice was low. “So you’re trying to say you have the strength he doesn’t have?”
“I don’t have magic and yet I’m still the best hand-to-hand combatant in the Bronze Sea.”
Revon grimaced from beside her. “Carina, magic is a tool, not a title. There’s a place for everyone in the Bronze Legion.”
She laughed. Oh, she laughed and laughed and laughed. What a naive little prince. “Your Highness, I hardly think you’re in a position of authority to tell me whether or not I deserve to have a place in the Legion. Besides, everyone knows the magic-wielders fly up the ranks far faster than their non-magical counterparts.”
Revon stilled. Julian and Elius were staring at them. The silence was filled by a wind whistling through the tall grasses. Finally, the prince answered. “Are you questioning my authority, Lady Carina?”
She turned her full body to the little prince. She was nearly as tall as him and possessed a bulk developed through over a decade of hard work. He was built like a shrimp in comparison. Pitiful. “Considering that your authority is overruled by your brother’s, I am. You don’t possess magic either, so it’s hypocritical.”
His eyes narrowed. “I suggest you stand down, Lady Carina. My brother’s magic is a gift that he has used to protect this kingdom. I have no issue not possessing it if I know it’s being used for the right reasons.”
She snorted. “You don’t have magic because the gods knew you wouldn’t be able to handle it. I don’t have it because they knew I would, and that if I had it, there would be reckoning all across the Bronze Sea.”
“No, you don’t have magic because Calvus chose Julian over you when he decided who would use the Glass Curse.”
Elius.
The silence that followed his accusation was more deafening than thunder. Her heartbeat boomed in her ears. Carina’s arms untangled and she balled her fists at her sides. Elius was staring her down.
“I hope you realize this is not a fight you want to pick, little brother,” she said lowly.
She couldn’t stand it. She couldn’t stand his popularity with the higher-ups of the Bronze Legion, or his near-constant cool-headedness, and especially not his magic, which he was too weak to even deserve wielding.
Why did he deserve their father’s doting? Or Argos’s attention? Why were Revon and Julian so enamored by him, when he lost every single match against her? Why did King Calvus overlook her for him, when she was his best soldier?
And as she stared at Elius, she allowed that rage to boil over. To fuel her strength. Because she was going to pummel him to a bloody pulp for trying to remotely imply she was undeserving of any accomplishment she’d achieved. Elius was given everything on a silver platter, with a matching spoon to accompany it. And what had she gotten? No magic, no honor, and no recognition.
Purple light flashed through Elius’s eyes, so faintly and subtly she thought she’d missed it. So he wanted to challenge her? Even weakened by his and Julian’s spar, he had the audacity to undermine her? Very well. Carina snorted to herself. She didn’t know how he’d be able to handle two losses today and still walk away with his dignity intact. Not that he ever had any in the first place.
Carina struck like a viper, her fist connecting to his jaw so quickly his head snapped back. Elius stumbled backwards, but she followed through with each step he took. Cut, jab, sidestep, parry. An elbow to the face, a knee to the abdomen. And he took it like the weakling he was. Every single hit.
The green and brown background faded as her focus narrowed. The roar in her ears was a song. For a moment she forgot the company in her presence, or the fact that the sun was beating down on her back. The only thing attaching her to reality was the feeling of her fists connecting with her brother’s body. Over and over again.
Elius was coughing up blood now, kneeling in front of her while clutching his side. She kept her hands up and flicked hair out of her face. The grin on her face was purely devious, brought about unconsciously at the sight of her brother in his natural state.
But the man looked up at her slowly, his dark blue eyes possessing that violet charge again, and he lept at her with a cry, swinging randomly and desperately. Carina laughed as she blocked each hit, every one of them so pathetic they wouldn’t leave bruises. She laughed as his legs gave out beneath him from sheer exhaustion, and she laughed as she grabbed his collar so he could watch his triumphant sister remind him of his place.
“I hope you remember this, little brother,” she said gleefully as she picked up a broken shard of glass at her feet. “I hope you remember that the only thing you have earned with this power of yours is an undeserved privilege among society.” His eyes widened as she raised the piece of glass to his face, just beneath his left eye, right on top of the scar she’d given him years ago, when he’d tried the very same thing he did now. She relished in this power she had, in the fact that he did remember, and that he was still very much afraid of what she was capable of.
She dropped the shard and reared her arm back, winding up for another blow when someone wrenched it away, causing her to let go of Elius. He slumped with a grunt, and she found herself face-to-face with Julian.
“That’s enough,” he snapped. His eyes were ablaze, his arm forming a glass blade ready to be used against her. “You are out of line, Carina. That wasn’t necessary. Attacking while unprovoked is juvenile, and you should know better.”
Carina yanked her arm out of his hold. She was surprised to find that the glee of combat had given way to choking frustration that made her throat close. “Wasn’t it? Am I juvenile for trying to defend my honor? Or ensuring Ravenna’s capability?” she hissed. Her voice cracked. What was this feeling? This burning in her chest? It had sprung up many times in her youth, but she’d never been able to name it. And now it reared its ugly head, trying to weaken her with vulnerability. She stared at her hands, which were stained red. Carina took in a steadying breath, calming herself down. “Sooner or later we are going to come face-to-face with a threat we’re not ready to fight. The Bronze Legion is only as strong as its weakest link. Anything can happen in the next few months. Elius has no right to imply I’m incapable of preventing that from happening, or that I’m unworthy in any sense of the word.”
“That is no excuse to beat your own brother half to death,” Revon snapped as he helped Elius stand. The latter was covered in his own blood, leaning heavily against the former. “We all have our place, Carina. Fighting among ourselves isn’t going to help.”
What a stupid little prince. Her eyes flicked to Elius, who was glaring up at her through a black eye. And what a pitiful excuse for a lord, she added sourly.
But she kept her mouth sealed shut. They wouldn’t understand. No matter how many times she told them, they never understood. So Lady Carina, daughter of the Bronze Hound, shook her head in silent frustration and walked back to the Castello without another word.
as annoying as he is he didn’t deserve that