Page 26 of Marked By the Dark Lord
Abhed stared at us, his eyes pleading.
One by one, however, we all gave the vote he didn’t want to hear.
“Guilty,” I said with great pleasure, voting as the final member.
“That makes eleven guilty votes. A unanimous decision. How fun. Now, what punishment shall we give today?” the dragon asked the courtroom. “Anyone have any requests?”
“Castration. Then make him eat it,” someone called.
I grinned as Abhed clutched at his groin.
“Staking,” someone else said.
“Skin him!”
The comments went round the jury, and many of those in the audience who came to experience the justice meted out.
“All very good ideas,” Dannorax said, lifting a paw to stall further suggestions. “As Judge of this Court, I pronounce the sentence of one Abhed Miller to be …death by incineration.”
He lifted a paw. Many of the jury and audience leaned forward eagerly as Abhed began to shake violently. He looked around for help but only found those interested in his suffering.
“Help me,” he gasped, steam emerging from his mouth. “Please. I don’t want to die.”
We laughed.
The steam turned to smoke as Abhed screamed. His shoes burst into flames. The smell of burning fat filled the room ashe was quite literally cooked from the inside out. Blackened ash poured from his mouth and ears, and then he was entirely engulfed in flame for several seconds, the intense heat contained by Dannorax’s magic so that it didn’t spread.
Less than half a minute later, there was nothing but a pile of ashes. A gnome with one working leg stumped in from outside, wheeling a cart, and brought out a dustpan to sweep up the debris. He dumped it into the bin attached to his cart, then left without a word.
“Excellent. We will break for lunch before returning for this afternoon’s trial,” Dannorax said, tapping a claw on some flint, the spark serving as his official pronouncement.
Everyone rose. I did so faster, heading for the door with only a cursory nod to the other jury members. Despite the fun of the sentence, I couldn’t shake the image of the woman with blue eyes from my mind. Even as I’d watched the yellow-orange flame of Abhed’s funeral pyre, her eyes had stared back at me from everyone in the audience.
It was infuriating. I needed to fight or fuck, and I couldn’t decide which. I was unnerved, and thatneverhappened to me. But the thought of her body, against mine … under me … her holes mine for the taking, her cries as I ravaged her body. The images circled endlessly inside my mind.
I left the courtroom and headed for the jail. I could summon her if I wanted. I had that power. There were rooms I could take her, throw her against the wall, and rip her clothes from her body. She would slowly slide down the wall, impaling herself on my cock until she begged me for more. I would toy with her clit, making her wetness coat me until I’d had my fill and emptied myself inside her.
A growl tore from my throat, sending people scattering out of my way as I walked the hallway, heading outside where the prisoners would be.
There was something about her. Something different, and I needed to knowwhat. Had she cast some sort of spell on me that I wasn’t aware of?
When I got outside, there was a commotion in the prison courtyard. I watched as the guards surrounded and beat someone wielding red magic. With a flash of recognition, I realized it was the woman.
I reached out, touching the magic as it faded, the flavor of it tantalizingly familiar. Frowning, I tried to place it, but I couldn’t. Angrily, I headed for the prison entrance.
“I’m here to see Warden Grolk,” I snapped before the ginger-bearded dwarf at the front desk could ask a question.
I didn’t wait for a response either, simply heading for the hallway that I knew led to his offices. Behind me came a flustered cry, followed by the stomping of heavy boots as the dwarf rushed after me.
“Lord Rokk, I’m sorry, but the Warden isn’t taking visitors right now.”
“Fine. Then you can show me where the human woman who came in yesterday is being held,” I said.
“But, sir, I …”
I gave him a withering glare. Dwarf folk were tough, hard people. I’d give them that. But I was tougher and harder. He looked away first.
“That’s what I thought,” I said, pushing open the door to the warden’s office.
