Hard nails dug into Fay's shoulder blades, summoning drops of blood to spill from the marks, but that was hardly the worst part. The worst part was not when Ashura forced his clothing off, the worst part was not the burning pain, nor was the worst part having his life threatened. The worst part was the silence. The dead, still silence that fell between the blonde's screams muffled by a rag shoved into his mouth. Nobody could hear him, nobody wanted to. No matter how much he screamed, the silence just floated there and watched him break.

The burning and Fay's screams subsided, but the silence beneath it all was invincible. "So, you understand the circumstances of disobeying me again now, don't you?" Ashura's cold palm rested below Fay's chin, his fingers stroking the blonde's cheek while being warmed by his hot breath and tears. The king's other hand was pressed into the sheets of the bed as he towered over the trembling wizard. "Well? Do you?"

Too shocked to speak, a simple nod was the only reply Fay could manage. He felt Ashura's weight lift off of him, and then there was silence. Nothing to accompany him but the overbearing silence that surrounded him. He knew he had to get out of here or else be found, he knew he had to leave, he knew if he didn't it would happen again, and most of all he knew he couldn't. There wasn't a single part of him that wasn't sore or injured, and there was nobody to help him but the silence.