Page 59 of An Empress of Earth & Darkness

Torin’s hair rustled on his brow as he shook his head. “I do not need to see your blood spilled on the ground to know that I have won,” he spat in return. “Submit your title to me and this will be over. Forfeit your commandership. You do not need to die.”

Viktir spat blood onto Torin’s leg. “Push that fucking blade into my flesh, you weak cunt.”

Torin hesitated, and Emara could see how torn he was about finally killing his father. “He never hesitates,” Kellen whispered to Gideon.

“I know,” Gideon replied lowly.

Viktir let out a vicious laugh as crimson blood coated his teeth. “You are unworthy of the Blacksteel name if you cannot finish what you started.”

Torin’s blade pieced into the commander’s chest a little further, pushing him back into the ground. “And you were unworthy of the Gods granting you a wife and sons, but here we are, watching your shameful fall from leadership.” Torin regained his stance. “Submit to me.”

“Submit, Viktir,” came a shout from the crowd.

“Renounce your commandership,” another bellowed from his side, and Emara wondered if they wanted him to stay alive.

If Torin didn’t kill him now, then Viktir could regain strength and come back for him. Was the darkness in her veins edging her away from compassion?

“Stand,” shouted another. “Get on your feet, Commander.”

No! This couldn’t be happening. Why was Torin not ending his life?

“No life needs to be taken today,” a hunter from Torin’s corner said. “He is sparing your life, you ungrateful prick. Submit.”

“I never asked him to spare it,” Viktir growled.

“That’s my decision, not yours. I won.” Torin let his sword stray away from the commander’s heart. “Because if I pierce your heart with my blade today, I am no better man than you. I would be just like you, and I refuse to be that man.” Torin’s jaw flexed, and his eyes fluttered shut for a second longer than they should have. “So I am going to give you one last opportunity to surrender your commandership over to me and I will let you live out the rest of your miserable life.”

Naya stepped forward. “Viktir, by the grace of the Gods, lay down your pride this once. Do you really want your boys to see their father killed by their own brother?” Naya’s voice broke. “Your own son? Is that what kind of human you have become? Will you really let your own flesh and blood push that sword through your merciless heart? Because if so, then you are no better than the darkness that breathes in the underworld.”

A moment passed between Naya and Viktir, a moment that no one else would understand. A stale silence darkened the air, and a small cloud must have drifted over the sun because the surrounding area dropped in temperature. A cool breeze tugged at the crowd as everyone watched Torin standing over his commander.

“Please surrender, Viktir,” Naya pleaded. “Please.”

Torin raised his sword to his father’s heart once more. “You have five seconds.”

Viktir pushed the blade aside. “You are a fucking coward,” he roared as he got to his feet, stumbling, his legs not able to support his weight. “A disgrace.”

“Four seconds.” Torin’s back muscles flexed under his armour. “I need to hear the words.”

“I concede.” A defeated exhale spat more blood onto the ground before Viktir’s green gaze found Torin’s. “You’d better exile me to the farthest part of the kingdom you can think of, boy, or you and the people who stood in your corner today are not safe.”

Torin took a few strides towards his father. “The people that stand in my corner are the safest people here, and do you want to know why? Because under the oath they will take before me and Thorin, they are protected from punishment by anyone other than me.” He spat looking down on him. “You underestimate how much I have noted your abuse of power, Father. I have observed carefully every single time you pulled rank or pushed your authority around like a dead weight. Don’t you forget that I learned from a very cunning and deceitful commander that you do not give a person who defies you any room to negotiate.” He pulled back, and Emara watched Viktir wipe the blood from his nose. “You see, my commander taught me to always find someone’s weakness. Find something that someone wants so badly, and then when they defy you, you strip that person of what they want.” Torin took a few steps back, and the power that radiated from him captured the attention of everyone in the crowd. “You only threaten the ones I love, the ones who stand by my side, so that I’ll send you off to some foreign land where you can live the rest of your shameful life in the shadows. But I am not afraid of your threats, and I will not be part of your manipulations anymore. I am the Commander of the Blacksteel Hunting Clan. I command you to stay in the Tower as part of my clan.”

A few whispers blew around the crowd.

“You are a laughingstock,” Viktir hissed. “First you couldn’t slash your blade through my throat, and now you will not exile me? Commandership is going to come down on you like the Gods are throwing bricks on your head.”

“No, Father, I will not exile you.” Torin squared his shoulders. “Because only then, by not allowing you to disappear into the shadows of the kingdom, will you receive your punishment. I will see it on your face every day. Your hatred to watch me in command. Your utter embarrassment to take instruction from me, to be at my mercy. Why would I allow you a few moments of pain over a lifetime of shame? Why would I grace your body to bleed out before you go over to the Otherside and have no punishment for what you have done to my family? You are mine until the Gods take you. And there you have my first command, Father. You are fucking mine.”

A warm breeze blew through the crowd, and that was when Emara finally caught a breath.

“The Gods have spoken.” The chief commander walked forward and removed the commander’s badge from Viktir’s chest. “Torin Blacksteel, first of his name, I now pronounce you the Commander of the Blacksteel Hunting Clan.” Aerrick moved across to Torin, but his gaze was on the Tower in the distance as the badge was pinned on his chest. The chief’s eyes found his crowd. “Bow before your honourable commander.”

Tears spilled from Emara’s eyes as she dropped to one knee in her gown, and everyone else did the same, bowing their heads before their new commander.

Torin Blacksteel.

It was over.

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