His brother only knows the simmering rage of being reined in too tightly. The quiet rise of anger - much like bile - that sits within your while you are forced to swallow the bitter taste time and again without comment. The roan knows nothing of the white-hot rage of betrayal nor the devastating realization of being left alone at the mercy of a gleeful murderer. The child knows nothing of the unhindered fire that is born of the need for vengeance. The unquenchable determination to make another suffer and writhe in the same turmoil they left you within. While Joachim can feel the waves of rage fueled by ignorance and lies rolling off his brother, he cannot help but feel slightly put out by just how vehement the boy's disdain for him has become. While he understands that his spats with mother would rightfully cause a fissure between the two brothers, he had not anticipated that Marceline would go to such lengths to poison an innocent against him. As the realization of her hatred for him sinks in, his bright blue eyes flash with a steely resolve that solidifies the course he has chosen to take with his brother. He shall reveal all of the cards, tear down all of her lies, and provide a safe haven within which his brother can weather the storm of emotion such revelations may bring.

The crimson colt's first statement is enough to draw a laughing snort from his older brother. "Forced? She fled like the coward I know her to be." The next words are enough to cause the speckled stallion to fall eerily still as his gaze sweeps over his bother as if to discern where Marceline ends and the boy begins. "I was a child younger than you used as a pawn between two horrific parents." His voice raises as he continues and his normally controlled demeanor falters slightly. "She had love - his love, my love, the other man's love - and she left each one of us. She has never sought love. The only things that woman loves is power." He sees his brother's movements begin and he steps away in a single fluid motion that allows the other's teeth to clack within the space between them. His own eyes narrow and he exhales sharply while punctuating it with an indignant stamp of a hoof. "I did not bring you here for blows. We are having a discussion like somewhat civilized men. For the first time in your life you are being treated as the man you should be. Act as such." He moves back closer to the smaller stallion as his next words come in a venomous whisper. "Challenge me if you wish - but I do not think you want to take that plunge just yet."

The roan stallion contradicts himself in a matter of sentences that leave Joachim slightly concerned for the state of the boy's mind. Clearly the younger boy is struggling with certain aspects of life, yet Joachim is unsure as of yet how to assist. He cocks his head to one side in amusement as the child continues to toss accusations into the air with wild abandon. Once he is finished (though Joachim is sure he will think or more), the spotted stallion begins to navigate a reply. "I am jealous, but that is the only correct statement you have stated. Her wonton way in which she bears children worries me because I understand how quickly she will turn her back when she falls from grace. When her adulteries were exposed, the man I called my father sought to kill her. She fled. She left me behind to weather her storm." The last sentence is the one that causes the taller stallion to raise his head while nodding firmly. "You are damn right about that. If it were up to her, I would be dead. Yet I am here - a ruler - and life gets better daily. Without her. You shame me for rising above her treachery, yet I will never apologize for overcoming the burden of her." He shakes his head, allowing white dreads to tangle against his neck as they may. The boy wants to speak as if he knows everything - now he will know.

The questions the boy poses bring Joachim's current thought process to a pause. Why, indeed? His tone changes as he too pivots to a different topic. Instead of brimming with anger, the older stallion's words are colored with the faintest shades of hope. "I brought you here in attempt to know you, but also to offer you the chance to spread your wings. You must thirst for a life out from beneath her thumb." In reality, he is attempting to spare his brother from the fate he fears shall befall him as well. The boy will not always be favored by the spotted woman. "I want nothing of you, save for the chance to be your brother in more than name." In all honesty, the idea of siblings excites him while simultaneously inciting a fierce protectiveness within him. "Why do you slide so easily into a mold of hatred that you did not form?" He lobs his own question back at the boy. Perhaps Bastien will make an attempt to become more than just someone that happens to share a few drops of familial blood.