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~Black fortress, Northern Eostia~
Kin adjusted his glasses for what had to have been the tenth time that evening and gave the cover of the many magical tomes in his arms a reassuring pat as he did so. A ridiculous superstition, he had heard mentioned by several of his comrades, but Kin found it strangely comforting knowing that the tools of his trade were close at hand.
Not that he needed it at the moment
A quick glance around the room confirmed there was no immediate threat to the king. Kin knew almost all of the men present by name or at the very least by their reputation and was confident that none of them would even dare to even try to bring harm to their master.
Not that any of these men could hope to harm, let alone kill the future high king of the continent even if one held ill intentions.
Vault sat perched on the former queen Olga's Black throne, watching the assembled men with a practiced eye. He emanated an aura of power and strength that only kings could process, as natural for him as it was for lesser man to take a breath, forcing the lesser men before him to bow and submit through sheer force of will and character.
Vault was a man destined to rule.
His king's smile was wide, almost reaching his ears as he pretended to laugh at one of the cruder japes one of his sergeants drunkenly told him, his powerful arm wrapped around the smaller man in celebration as he did so.
He wore his armor and riding leathers, forgoing the silks and ornate garments that the noble class of Eostia wore, showing to those in his inner circle and to the men who followed him that he was just like them, more of a warrior than a simple politician.
He sat against his throne, watching as his men partook in the spoils of their war. The food, drink, and women flowed into the waiting arms of his men as quickly as they could be used. Barrels of mead and wine were drunk to the last drop, platters of food consumed to the last morsel, and women were used until they couldn't be used anymore.
A shriek cut through the laughter around him and forced Kin to look away from Vault towards its source.
"We got a live one boy's." a man said to his fellow soldiers, laughter erupting louder than before as he hoisted the body of a struggling girl off the floor, her thrashing limbs trying desperately to escape her captors.
What's the point, Kin thought to himself, it's not like she was going to put a stop to what was happening.
She was one of the many who had been shipped to the black fortress on his master's command as entertainment for the evening, as he called it. But while most had been forced to accept their new lives as they were, this one seemed to still have some spark left in her.
Which meant it would take that much more effort and time to break her out of these misconceptions. The horrid sounds coming from her are certainly ruining the mood of the evening, Kin thought to himself, as he watched the men continue to touch and grope her, her screams making it seem like their hands were burning her and they continued to laugh at her feeble attempts at escape.
Rather pathetic, Kin thought himself, watching the scene unfold in front of him.
His King must have felt something similar as he stood up from his throne and made his way towards the assembled men. The laughter stopped for a moment as all eyes followed the massive form of their king, as vault made his presence known.
The woman, well girl seemed to be more accurate, if Kin was honest, fell to her knees.
"Please milord." she spoke in a broken whisper, her voice weak from her screams of protest." I have a family, I just want to go home."
Vault stared down at the young woman before him, staring at her in a way that reminded kin of a child staring at a caught butterfly on display. The image was broken however by his lord's sudden movement.
A swift kick sent the girl spiraling backward, blood dripping from her broken nose and mouth as she skidded away from the impact into the waiting and groping arms of the surrounding men.
"Oh, but sweet, sweet girl. You are home." Vault said as he stalked the disoriented woman, forcing her face to his boots as he stepped closer to her.
"We are all your fathers. Your Brothers. Your Sons. But we are especially all your husbands, and the sooner you realize this the better off you will be."
The laughter erupted again, as even Kin felt a smirk form on his face at the sight before once again Vault seemed to take hold of the assembled men's attention.
"Today is the day our conquest of this continents begins in full." His voice was loud and booming, loud enough to compel the mass of bodies to stop their drunken revelry.
The crowd roared in cheers, like some great beast declaring its intentions before a hunt. Kin watched how the men seemed to hang off of every word the man spoke as if he hung the stars in the sky and lifted the sun off the horizon out of sheer will.
When the sun rises over the horizon tomorrow the city of Feoh will be ours." He said with confidence. "it is but the first step we must take in truly shaping this world into my vision, but I trust with the men before me following me, it will be merely the first sunrise to a kingdom that will last 1,000 years."
The sea of men once again erupted into cheers, so loud and thunderous Kin half expected the vaulted ceiling of his lord's newly acquired fortress would crumble from the volume of the assembled men.
"So, lets us drink in honor to those men, our brothers in arms, who struck the first lethal blow against our enemies," the crowd lifted their drinks in toast, "Let us drink, in the memory of those who will not live long enough to see the great empire built on the foundation of the bodies of the weaklings who would stand against us."
Kin found himself cheering as well, much more subdued than his drunken comrades, but still far more than was his usual dispassionate self was accustomed to while in public.
His lord truly had a gift of inspiring those around him
Vault looked down at the girl before him, tears welling in her eyes as she stared up at her King, Kin wondered what was going through the women's mind at that moment, whether she began to understand her new place in the world as cattle, or if she still believed in some strange roundabout way that she could still escape her situation.
Vault, as if sensing the woman's unasked question, chose to answer.
He grabbed at her, hoisting her small body off the ground and lifting her up until she was staring into his eyes. She shook, like a rabbit finding itself in the maw of a wolf, before her body went limp. "you have some fight left in you I see, that's good." Vault said with a smile that Kin knew instantly wasn't as fake nor forced as the one Vault previously wore.
"There are few things in this world I take more joy in, then breaking women with fight left in them." His words seemed to strike her harder than his blow against her, but her tears were quickly drowned out by the cheers and jeers around her.
Kin looked on for a moment, before turning away from the scene. He had far more important business to attend to before the night was over.
And besides, he thought to himself, A king deserved to have some fun every once and awhile
~Several hours later, Feoh~
Monsters, Prime minister Meryn Augustus Beasley told himself, did not exist.
Monsters were simply things children and old women created from beasts and sounds in the dark, to haunt the dreams of children and common fools alike.
Orcs and goblins, while horrifying and deadly in their own unique ways, were not monsters. They were flesh and blood beasts chained to their basic instincts. Animals in every way but form and shape.
Beasts could be fearsome, yes, but beasts could be culled or tamed with enough time and effort. Even great beasts like dragons could be tamed, as the legendary dragon knights of old could attest to, but they had long since vanished from the world besides.
Monsters did not exist, but the man that could be his downfall stalked the streets of Feoh regardless of what he believed did.
He did not know if any of the rumors were true, let alone if all of them were true. All that he knew was that the strange man who had joined the lady Alicia in her return to the city was a foreigner and that he had seemed to follow her whenever she went like some sort of lost puppy.
He would have found it funny if he didn't find it so pathetic. A man who could turn the skull of an orc into dust with his bare hands? A man who could shatter stone walls with a mighty punch? Resorted to be the lapdog of a pompous and spoiled girl like Alicia?
He could remember a time where he could laugh himself to sleep at the very thought of it.
But that seemed like such a long time ago now. In a time when he wasn't forced to huddle in the darkened hallways of his family estate listening to sounds of an army, HIS army, be completely decimated and overpowered, By Alicia Arcturus and her pet foreigner.
He stood silent, as his remaining conspirators, those who have not been killed or captured, spoke in barely contained frustration, their voices overshadowed by the beating of war drums and the thunderous roar of war horns from the outside world.
Their faces were ashen pale and distraught, the men who were fortunate enough not to have been a part of the fighting that continued to rage outside the walls of Beaslys family estate were hollow and colorless, more like ghosts then mortal men. The soldiers and mercenaries among them, those fortunate enough to escape the slaughter that faced their comrades, were covered in blood, both theirs and their comrades, and carried their broken bodies with the gait of defeated men.
"A deception," a senior councilman, one of the few Beasly trusted enough to share some of his plans with said, his gaunt figure shaking trying to be loader then the war horns blaring from outside. " It must be some sort of trick; the whore is trying to trick us into surrendering without a fight."
"without a fight?" a mercenary, a dark-haired man who looked as if he had run face first into a stone wall, spoke through broken teeth. "hundreds of my men are out there dying at the hands of some monster dressed in the skin of a man."
Monsters did not exist, he found himself thinking again, like a silent prayer to whatever god would listen, as whatever was left of his conspirators continued to bicker amongst themselves like children.
"We don't have much time left." the mercenary said," We'll be found out soon, and when that happens, they'll flay us alive without question."
"You suggest we run like simple cowards!" the gaunt nobleman said strongly, far too strong for a man who had never seen a battlefield before today let alone fought in one, Beasly thought to himself. The mercenary seemed to share the sentiment as he stepped closer to the pampered noble, causing the skinnier man to back take a step away from the injured soldier.
"If you speak another word to me with that tone, I'll slice those fat lips right off your face and shove them right down your throat." The mercenary said as he glowered at the older man, who did his best to try and not faint on the spot from the threat against his life.
"We cannot and will not abandon this city," Sir Walton, a middle-aged knight who had been in the services of Beaslys family for decades spoke," we are not the gutless cowards you sell swords seem to be, ready to drop our weapons at the first sign of resistance we face on the battlefield."
"First sign of resistance?" another one of the mercenaries, his face a myriad of scarred and bruised flesh spoke, "They have a fucking War God on their side!"
Colorful language aside, it seemed many before him held similar opinions to the brutish man.
The worn faces on his subordinates spoke louder than any words they could choose. They were more fragile than they once looked, like once great and powerful oak trees now left hollow and decrepit. Looking as if a single breeze would be enough to topple them over, let alone whatever monster Alicia had summoned from the deepest pits of hell.
Monsters, he found himself saying again, did not exist.
"Gentlemen." Beasly said, his voice having more of its usual vigor then his inner thoughts would suggest, "The time wasted scrabbling amongst ourselves like children and women, the less time we will have of securing our freedom from the castle's dungeons."
The men looked at him with varying degrees of disbelief. Some, those who had faced battle and known what manner of man they faced was far less optimistic than their less battle-hardened companions, looked at him in barely contained vexation, while others looked to him with what he could only assume was a shimmering hope.
"With all due respect my lord, but how do you expect to save our lives without Vaults army." sir Walton asked, his eyes shifting to the remaining members of the Kuroinu that littered the room
"I am still a man with great resources at his disposal."
"All the copper and gold from all the whores who ever lived won't save you from that thing from killing us, you old fool." one mercenary said, despite the crudeness of his speech there didn't seem much anger or heat in his words, his voice sounding like it was on the verge of tears.
"Shut your dirty mouth!" Walton cursed back, "This is the Lord Prime minister you're squawking at!"
"Yeah but for how much longer?" Came the muted response.
Ordinarily, the prime minister would have had the man dismembered for such an insult, but he had neither the time nor inclination for such a thing. His main priority was reaching his private study and destroying whatever piece of evidence linking him to this disastrous rebellion he could get his hands on.
But first, he thought to himself, it's time to play a little theater for the commoners
"Walton, take as many men as you can find and barricade ever entrance to the estate you can find." Beasly said trying to command what few pieces he still had on the board to his advantage, "send a handful of men to the outer gates, order them to make a show of helping as many civilians as possible."
Seeing the confused looks of the men in front of him would have caused the elder statesmen to react in a manner that did not befit a man of his position.
I am surrounded by fools and simpletons, He thought as he ground his teeth in an attempt to keep his anger in check.
"We need witnesses seeing our work towards the defense of the city, whatever it takes we cannot allow our loyalty to the crown to be in doubt."
The men before him finally seemed to catch on to his plan, their faces regaining some of their lost colors as they moved to their positions. While it was true, his plan was not a true guarantee of success, it would at the very least allow him to cover up his part in the conspiracy and grant him the time he would need to make his escape from the city in the ongoing chaos.
While most of his men rushed to their positions to play their part in Beasley's ruse, one man seemed to stay where he stood. Beasly had known Sir Walton for years since the grey in his hair was still a deep shade of brown and he still walked with the gait of a green squire, so it didn't surprise Beasly to see the worry in the knight's eyes as he spoke.
"My lord," Walton's voice was devoid of emotion as he spoke," Are you sure your plan will work? Do you think the Princess would be so foolish to believe such a mummer play in spite of everything that has happened today?"
Beasly stood silent for a moment remembering the day the daughter of his best friend and king was born. And how he watched that same baby grow over the next 20 years into the spitting image of the woman who haunted his dreams and thoughts to this very day.
"I've known that girl since she came out of her whore mother's cunt." Beasly said every ounce of frustration and anger he felt towards the only child of the king known to any who listened, "The only thing more foolish then her own sense of honor is that she foolishly believes others hold their honor to the same regard as she does hers."
The knight nodded his head as if mentally coming to terms with something, before he saluted and joined the others, Leaving Beasly to begin his planning's alone.
I can still salvage this mess
He reached the door to his solar and entered briskly. The loud sound of horns from the battle accompanying him, echoing off the red-stone walls like a thousand shouts. No guards stood outside his chambers, of course, they had been reassigned to more important tasks long ago. His own household guards, or what was left of his household guards, stood to watch at the gates of his family estate.
Not that they would be much use after today
He moved to his desk and riffled the scrolls set on the fine wooden surface before him. He dislodged the pile but found a document he was looking for. A coded message he intended to send to Vaults court wizard Kin, pertaining to his future in ruling Feoh in vaults name after the war had come to an end.
Minutes passed like hours, as the pile of parchment grew larger and larger as the fire of his hearth grew in size and heat. Encoded messages to and from members of the Kuroinu leadership, Pieces of blackmail materials he used to control members of the Feoh government who would not willingly join him in his plans, entire books, and ledgers filled with the names of men on his payroll, men located through every level of society.
From some of the most senior members of the city council to the hierarchy of the clergy to the leadership of the Feoh military and city guard to some of the most prominent members of the merchant's guild. Books upon books of some of the most powerful men in the city and proof of all of their deepest darkest secrets littered his desk. Enough parchment and ink to overthrow a dozen families and noble houses all across the continent and more than enough to secure a traitors death for any man whose name was written in them.
Before Beasly could act on his planes, however, he was struck by the sounds of the battle outside his estate. Specifically the fact that he didn't hear anything.
Abruptly the horns outside had stopped. The sounds of clashing steel had become muted and subdued. The silence was eerie, almost oppressive, to the nobleman as he refilled his wine in an attempt to calm his nerves.
So, the battle is over.
Truth be told, he had known the battle was over the instant the foreigner, who had attached himself to the princesses, had broken through the barricaded church, saving the captured nuns and noble women from the assortment of orcs and goblins that Vault had given to him for his task. His eyes had widened as a green-skinned giant was thrown over the barricade like a leaf caught in the wind before crushing back to the ground and crushing half a dozen mercenaries to death.
Monsters, he again told himself, did not exist.
He didn't wait to see what was to happen next, he knew it was no longer safe for him to be out in the open, if his Machinations were discovered, his life would mean less than that of a common goblin.
It did not take a genius to realize that at that point the battle of Feoh had failed and that whatever forces the Kuroinu had left in the city were either fleeing for their lives or already surrendering in hopes of receiving mercy from their captors.
Fools, he thought to himself, there is no mercy in war
Cold fury took him. All of his careful plans, all of his aspirations for this city's future. All up in smoke due to the incompetence of those he surrounded himself with.
"It was not supposed to be this way! "he thought to himself in rage, slamming a sweaty palm on to the desk, leaving a greasy stain on the oak surface and sending some lose letters falling to the floor.
"My father told me you always did have a temper, I thought you would learn to conceal it in your old age."
He whirled to find the source of the noise, his swollen belly smacking into the desk causing some wine in his goblet to spill over his hand. He squinted at the intruder. The smoke filling from his fire momentarily blurring his vision, making it difficult to see who had dared to enter his quarters without his permission.
"You?" He gasped, surprise giving way to anger, then quickly being replaced with an unbridled fear the more he stared at the face of his visitor.
Lady Alicia stood in front of him, her usual pristine appearance marred by blood and the grime of battle, but her eyes never seemed to waver. If Beasly didn't know any better he would say she finally looked like the warrior she had tried so desperately to be for years, and not the scared useless little girl she was.
She stepped out fully from the hallway he himself entered through. Flanked by two of her sworn swords on either side of her. Why the halfwits stationed at his gate would allow her entrance into his estate without his knowledge or consent was beyond him, but it seemed to be the lesser of the growing lists of problems facing him at the moment.
"I thought it was the time that you and I had a little talk." The blonde princess spoke, her voice a strange mix of calmness and nonchalant air he had never expected to hear from the hotheaded woman in front of him.
Meryn Augustus Beasly. Prime minister of the Ancient city-state of Feoh and elder statesmen of the noble council looked quizzically at the woman. "In case you haven't noticed the city is under attack by the forces of Vault and his black dogs!"
"Rest assured Lord Beasly" Varys walked further into the room and sat down in a chair opposite Beaslys own. "The city is under control; a few moments of time here will not hinder my forces ability to eliminate the threats to our kingdom."
Lord Beasly was thinking fast as he rounded the table and sat down, the heavy wood of the chair straining under his considerable bulk. "Is this really the time for this? There is a battle going on outside."
"Oh, I believe it's a perfect time my lord," Alicia said softly, too softly for someone like her in the situation she found herself in "In fact, I would go as far as to say that us talking has come far too late. If we had discussed matters earlier, we might have saved the thousands of dead that now litter the ground around the city."
She knows?!
His inner thoughts seemed to have shown on his face, as the two warriors rested their hands on the pommel of their swords. The look on their faces promising a swift death if he made the wrong move while in the presence of their lady.
The room became silent, the sounds of isolated skirmishes from his outside his window as far away from his mind as his chances of escaping with his life.
"I do not seem to understand your words my lady," Beasley said, taking another sip of his wine in a vain attempt to settle his nerves. The tremor in his hands showing he had no such luck.
"You know very well what I'm referring to," Alicia said, a slight frown creasing her face, the first true sign of emotion the woman showed since entering his private chamber.
Beasley decided to feign ignorance. It was True Lady Alicia was not showing her characteristic hot-headedness nor her usual level of blind righteousness, but even so, she was still the same little girl he'd known for years, the same girl who would rush into stupid mistakes if she thought she was in the moral right like a blind fool.
He gave a wry laugh, "I assure you, my lady, I have no earthly idea what you're talking about."
"Come now my lord" Alicia replied, spitting the name of his title like poison from her mouth, "The hour grows late and I still have dozens of men to be formally charged with treason before the night is over. Let us have no more pretense between us."
Beasley glanced quickly out of the study balcony window, where the sun was still streaming down onto the cityscape below. If his men had seen Alicia enter through the front gate, then they must have known what they must do.
All he had to do was hold her off as long as he could.
He was nervous, that much he knew was evident to everyone who could see him, but he hoped they would assume the sweat glistening on his forehead was caused by the blistering fire blazing behind him and not from his increasing heartbeat, "I'm sorry but I do not. Your words puzzle me."
"Puzzle you?" Alicia said with a frown, her voice raising a slight octave as she spoke and for a second, she was the same impetuous child he knew her to be. The same girl who would bluster and rant at the slightest challenge of her authority and position. But to Beasly surprise and disappointment, the moment passed and Alicia regained her new-found aloofness.
"Well allow me to be as brief and as plain as I can be, "she said as she raised a coin purse from her belt." Do you know what my father always said about finding corruption within the lower ranks?"
Beasly was silent for a moment, instead of answering, using every ounce of strength in his body to keep his face as impassive and emotionless as he could.
"you look for men who have money they shouldn't be able to have."
"M-money?" Beasley said, his voice cracking slightly as his brain slowly realized his plans were unraveling.
"Of course," Alicia said with faked wide-eyed innocence, looking more like her young cousin Prim then the stern warrior she fancied herself. "You should know more than anyone else the state of the city watch, you were the cause of most of it. After months under your command, the city Guard is one step removed from common sellswords. Most of your men would sell their own mothers for a bent copper. The idea of being paid to remove those who knew too much would not faze them."
"You have evidence!?"Beasley asked, his tone erratic."Or is this a just another excuse to hear your own voice speak?"
"Circumstantial evidence to be sure," Alicia answered, "However, for members of the City Watch it would seem that one or two of the group have suddenly come into some riches. My father makes it a point to pay those in service to this city well, but not That well." she said tossing a gemstone the size and color of a plum onto his table, the same gemstone he used to secure the loyalty of several of the guardsmen from around the city.
"so, you could imagine my surprise when one of the city watchmen hired under your direct orders used this very stone to peruse the most expensive brothel in the city."
Damn them, they were warned to be careful with the money.
"Rest assured, all the men were captured before the attack accrued, and told us everything they knew. you'd be surprised about the thing's men like them would say to save their own skin.
"So, this was it then?" Beasly thought to himself his body shaking, form fear or anger he couldn't say confidently for he felt equal amounts surge through him at the moment. Beasly could hardly take the smug look on the woman's face for much longer. He held up his hands in mock entreaty,
"Very well! I surrender! Take me into your custody, imprison me. Do what you will." he spoke loud and exaggerated, looking and sounding less like a man about to come to terms with his end with dignity and more like a stage performance of an actor portraying a man about to come to terms with his end with dignity poorly.
They stared at one another for several moments, neither group budging an inch from their spots. For Beasley, it was confusion that kept him frozen. Surely his men would have known that if Lady Alicia was here then their plot was uncovered and that their lives would be forfeit if the Princess Knight was allowed to leave alive.
So why hadn't they attacked?
He was sure he had distracted the arrogant princess long enough for what remained of his forces to convene to his study and apprehend his visitors. While many of the men still under his command were tired and injured from battle, they easily outnumbered Alicia and her guards nearly ten to one, and with the element of surprise on their side, the princess of Feoh stood no chance of survival.
...So where were they.
It seemed his visitor knew more than he did on the subject
"Did you really think your mad dogs will be able to save you?" She said confidently as if she could read his very thoughts with a glance.
The shock and confusion on his face must have been clear to the world if that damn smile on her face was any indication. Even the two guards that accompanied her covered their mouths with their hands in an attempt to hide their laughter.
The sheer fact that he was being mocked by lowly knights, glorified babysitters, was enough to make lose all sense of himself and lash out, but he controlled himself. But the grinding of his teeth was a clear enough sign that it was a great effort for him.
"You didn't think your men would have just let me walk into your estate with armed guards did you?" She said with the mirth of a chess master seeing her opponent's next move before they had made it. "The men in your employ may be rats but even rats will fight when they are cornered."
As she spoke, Beasley felt his arms grow heavier and heavier, until they hung limply to his sides. The realization hit him hard, the remnants of his men were being cut down under his very nose, in his own home, while he was being talked down to by...this...stupid...little...CUNT!
"I would have granted them mercy, had they stood down." Alicia said staring down the old man," A fair trial and punishment that fit the crimes committed against my people, but it seemed most had preferred to save whatever little honor they have left by dying a warriors death."
The way she spoke reminded Beasly of Alicia's father, simple and matter of fact, it almost seemed Alicia was a decade older then she was several days ago. Either that or she was speaking words given to her by another, which seemed just as impossible.
"Unfortunately for them, a warrior's death is far too good for dogs who would rape and kill for the sake of their own sense of entitlement."
Something in him snapped, as whatever fear was in his body was suddenly replaced with pure unadulterated loathing at the woman in front of him.
"I ordered their lives to be spared, but I fear they are in no condition to save..."
"You Stupid, arrogant cow," Beasly screamed, his voice breaking from the strain, sounding more like a wounded animal than a man, as he pulled out the crossbow he kept on his person at all times. It was small and ornate, with a single bolt locked, loaded and ready to be fired. Though a single shot was not enough to alter his fate, it was certainly enough to enact his revenge on the woman who brought about his downfall.
"I don't care if my life is forfeited. if I am to meet the gods I will make sure to take you with me! "He said, his voice hoarse from anger as he stared down at the three women before him. The two swordswomen unsheathed their weapons, either in an attempt to protect their lady from harm or in an attempt to put an end to him Beasly didn't know nor did he care.
All he cared about was wiping that smirk off the Princess knights face.
"I would spare you any pain, as a final favor to your father, not that a show like you deserves such a painless death. The bolt was smeared with enough poison to kill an Orc. I dare say it would be merciful compared to the life you would have lived after the war is over."
If Beaslys life was over, truly over, He would have the satisfaction of knowing he took the life of the daughter of the woman who spurned him all those years ago. Her end may not have been what she truly deserved, but it was enough to give Beasly peace in his final moments.
But still, Alicia continued to smile, the sly smile that belonged to a woman who knew the answer to a question that hadn't yet been asked. Despite their unsheathed weapons, her bodyguard made no attempt to make a move towards him, instead glancing towards the wide glass doors of his balcony, almost as if they were waiting for something...
"My lord," Alicia said, her tone far more serious and far colder than she previously spoke with. "I regret to inform you that my life does not belong to you and that while you may live to see the sunset tomorrow, your fate was sealed the moment you allied yourself with our enemies."
His blood turned to ice, and his eyes slowly turned to the balcony right before it erupted into an explosion of broken glass and shattered wood. His eyes widened, as a body came flying through the broken glass window, the broken body of one of his remaining household guards landing with a wet thud against the polished stone floor.
"I wished I could say I'm sorry it had to come to this, but that would be a lie."
He peered through the thin veil of smoke that had filled the room since this conversation started as if half-expecting to see Death in every corner of the room. He could hear footsteps on the floor, but he saw nothing but air. Shadows crept across the room, and now they seemed to hide the creature from sight.
He opened his mouth as if to call out a threat or plea for mercy before he felt the sensation of his feet leavening the floor. He would have would have screamed for his life if he didn't feel the air leave his lungs as a massive hand wrapped itself around his neck and slammed him atop his oak desk. He would have used the crossbow in his hand, either on his assailant or on the still smug looking Alicia looking on if he hadn't felt every bone in his hand break and shatter in his assailant's grip, his arm twisted and contorted in ways the gods didn't intend a mans limb to twist or contort.
Pain, beyond his imagination, override every one of his senses as he tried in vain to regain his ability to breath, heaving, and huffing through broken ribs and burning lungs. It was at that moment Beaslyrealizedd just how wrong he was.
Monsters did exist. And this one held the body of a man.
"Sir Steven," Alicia said, her tone formal and professional, but far less cold then when she spoke to Beasley, "I see you have arrived"
"Alicia." came the simple response, ignoring the pained whines of the man below him as he grabbed the now discarded crossbow before shattering the weapon in the same hand that ruined the prime minister's appendage.
"I see you're making it a habit of being late to meeting me."
"Yeah well..." Steve Rogers said gesturing outside the now destroyed balcony, where the dozen or so members of what remained of Beasly household guard littered the bloody grass.
"...I had some things I needed to take care of."
I'm a little teapot short and stout here is my story please follow, review and like.