Page 20 of Rathgar

“What? No!” The words tumble out before I can stop them. “I left the cottages because I couldn’t stand being cooped up, waiting for him to return.”

Soren’s face is like a block of stone, cold and unreadable. “It is tradition.”

I wrinkle my nose. “And what happens if I don’t?”

Soren stays silent. “I don’t know.”

Holding Iris close and looking to my sister for support, I put my foot down. “I’m not going to be his caged bird. I’m staying here.”

While Lara gives me an encouraging nod, Soren looks like I just told him the world was flat. At long last, he draws his mouth into a thin line and bows his head.

“Very well.” I can hear how unhappy he is in the tone of his voice. Good thing Lara has him wrapped around her little finger as her heart-mate.

CELL

RATHGAR

The door splinters into a million fragments under the force of my boot. All the tech in the world won’t save you if it’s offline.

Finally, we’ve managed to corner the rival lord Kovarx at his opulent headquarters. He thought he could hide behind all his money and power and stuff.

Turns out even the most loyal followers will turn tail once there’s no longer anything in it for them.

We’d been tailing Kovarx for months. Years, even. At every chance, he slipped through our fingers, using his virtually bottomless pocketbook to buy his way out of trouble. I was tired of being too little too late.

And I was tired of seeing the people suffer in poverty and squalor while he practically bathed in gold.

Makes me sick.

But all that comes to an end today. Right here, right now. The pathetic excuse for a man cowers in a corner, unguarded and unarmed. He doesn’t deserve this land. He doesn’t deserve to live.

And he doesn’t deserve a fast, merciful death either.

Still, we have our orders. In and out. Claiming the land in Soren’s name, vowing to bring it back under our banner, back to peace and prosperity.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” I roar, advancing on the so-called ‘chieftain’. “Is this what you call honor? Hiding in a corner while your fields burn and your people go hungry?”

He doesn’t answer and he doesn’t meet my gaze. His expression is a mixture of rage and fear. The face of a man who knows his time has run out.

“Well, is it?” I lunge forward and grab him by the shirt collar, lifting him up in the air. His pitiful little legs flail and his body twitches in my grasp, trying to get free. Choked sounds come from his windpipe as his hands claw desperately at his throat.

“You think you can hide behind all your money and power like some kind of shield. You think it’s all right for your people — the very people you swore to protect — to suffer while you live in luxury. Does it help you sleep at night? Knowing that a child starved to pay for your silk sheets?”

“I...please!” Kovarx wrenches out through strangled breaths. “You don’t have to—you don’t have to do this! We can make a deal!”

“The time for deals is long over, Kovarx. You had your chances. Too many of them! You’ve been a scourge upon this planet and these people for too long.” I bare my teeth, making sure he feels the full brunt of my anger. “And now it’s time for you to pay the price.”

I snarl, swinging him toward the open window. It’s a long way down. He doesn’t even deserve this, but the thought of him frantically grasping at empty air in the second before his body shatters on the ground…

I should do it. I want to do it.

But in that split second, I stop. I think of Janie, out of nowhere. Think of her, back home and alone. She probably doesn’t even know where I’ve gone. Doesn’t know why I left.

So much for being a better man.

“H-here, we can do this! I have something you’ll like, yes! My wife and child — take them, take them! I know your kind. You only live to take your pleasure and pillage. That’s all you people want. Have your fun with them and let me be — please.”

Red-hot fury pounds so loudly in my ears I can barely hear straight. My muscles bulge, my heart quickens. If he thinks me a savage, then I’ll be one. A loud, feral roar breaks free as I slam him into the wall and let go, watching as he crumples to the ground. He’s dazed, but not out yet. Now the little worm’s on his hands and knees, begging and pleading for his life.

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