Markus Kingdom

Markus Kingdom Justice

Markus Kingdom... done. And just before the end of the year too.

And by request... here's the character summary.
I like to refer to it as 'Summary of a Tragedy'
Enjoy!

Markus Kingdom Justice.

Younger brother of Gabriel Camael Justice, older brother of Skylar ‘Sky’ Justice.
Second heir to the Justice estate.

Markus was in many ways the odd one out of the three Justice siblings. Nine years younger than his older brother, Gabriel, and five years older than his sister Sky, he used to refer to himself as the thorn between the roses. This wasn’t because he didn’t get along with his siblings, but because he wasn’t related to them at all.

After the birth of Gabriel, the Justices seemed unable to conceive a second child. After nearly ten years of trying without any luck they decided to adopt, and Markus was introduced into the family. Barely two years of age, pale-skinned with dark eyes and even darker hair, he stood in stark physical contrast to his fair-headed and blue eyed brother. Gabriel accepted his new baby brother with open arms, spending much time running around the large Justice estate with Markus teaching him how to get up to no good and generally driving the house staff up the wall.

Markus developed a passion for speed at a young age which saw him tearing across the estate on a quad bike at the age of seven, whereas his brother favoured more quiet pursuits. In fact Gabriel was often seen sitting outside on a summer afternoon reading a book, wearing ear plugs so as not to be distracted by Markus racing by on a motorised vehicle.

Markus had just turned five and Gabriel fourteen when their parents announced that surprisingly they were expecting another child. The news was received by the brothers with great excitement.

Both Markus and Gabriel adored their sister from the moment she was born and for a while family life was peaceful and idyllic.

Shortly after Gabriel’s twentieth birthday, a traffic accident claimed the lives of both their parents, leaving him as head of the estate and guardian of his younger siblings.

As the oldest son and heir to the Justice estate Gabriel had been groomed for his future responsibilities from the moment he could walk. His carefully planned out education and inherent sense of duty helped him work through the loss of his parents. Allowing himself very little time to grieve he instead focused on bringing order to the chaos into which they had been so suddenly plunged. He effectively became a single parent to Markus and Sky, channelling all his efforts into efficiently running the business he had been left and preserving the home they all knew and loved.

Gabriel’s new role as patriarch shifted the dynamics between the three siblings. Sky who was only five when the tragedy occurred grew up seeing Gabriel more as a parent than a brother.

In his parents’ absence and with his brother too busy running things, Markus would drag his sister along to the race tracks instead. He had known since the moment that he first heard an engine fire up that he wanted to be a racing driver. Seeing as he wasn’t sure whether to race cars or motorbikes he decided to do both. Sky inevitably ended up sharing his joy of race cars and bikes, though when it came to career choices she was attempting to decide between palaeontologist, artist or police detective. Though not related by blood the two of them had very similar temperaments and senses of humour. As the years passed they seemed to do practically everything together, prompting Gabriel to refer to them as the ‘hipsters’, seeing as they appeared to be joined at the hip.

Even though the three of them were raised as siblings on equal terms, the bond between Sky and Gabriel had always been very different from that between her and Markus. In many ways Markus and Sky grew up more as close friends than siblings.

Whether the emotional turmoil of losing their parents and the subsequent closeness that developed between them was the reason behind what occurred or whether it was destined to happen regardless is anyone’s guess. However, as time went by, the friendship between Markus and Sky turned into love. This was a shocking realisation for both of them and it left them extremely conflicted about their feelings and each other. Though, technically speaking, there was nothing against such a union, the reality of their situation was exceptionally awkward at best. The Justice family was well-known to the public and Markus had achieved quite a level of fame due to his success as a race driver.

Their initial reaction was to agree to not take it any further. Unfortunately they felt far too strongly about each other to ignore their feelings.

As the older of the two, Markus felt terribly responsible for what had happened, not to mention horribly guilty. He would have long conversations into the night with Gabriel apologising profusely for getting them into such a mess. Gabriel was far more open-minded on the subject than Markus, and though it upset him deeply to see his brother so distraught, he couldn’t quite understand why he was so torn up about it. Of course people would talk, people always talked, but as far as Gabriel was concerned a well-timed press release could work wonders.

Regardless of his support, Markus seemed unable to shake his guilt, and his mixed emotions were making him increasingly volatile. Sky on the other hand had finally accepted how she felt and it was breaking her heart to see the man she loved in so much pain. Eventually she decided that the best option would be for her to leave and give Markus space and peace of mind. By now she was twenty and studying at university and transferring her studies to a university abroad would not be difficult. Her announcement came as a complete shock to Markus who immediately realised that he simply could not imagine life without her. He finally accepted that he loved her and that he wanted to be with her, regardless of the consequences.

Two weeks later Markus died. He was killed in a crash during a race.