The Reaper's Voyage

Chapter 2

Each crash from the furniture and violent shout terrifies those close enough to hear and those who bear witness. No one says a word or stands too close, afraid they'll blow a gasket. Flavia stands a good distance from her husband, shaking in the knees, ready to serve as a warm towel to calm him down. Silas' chest is heaving and his hands are shaking as he paces back and forth in the Throne Room running out of things to express his anger with.

"I don't understand. Explain it to me." He orders the knight sent by the Ruler of Esadom, running his fingers along the spine and tip of the blade.

The knight lowers his head to his feet, avoiding eye contact because everyone knows a confused Silas is an angry Silas. "My King, a dark cloud swept over the nation in the night and killed many families. We thought—My apologies, Sir, but we thought you were behind it, so I was sent to ask questions."

Silas doesn't care if the measly soldier was insulting him, he takes it as a compliment. It was his reputation after all. What he did care about was the fact that the mission wasn't complete. He can't comprehend how something so simple managed to not get done properly. It was a surprise attack, how could it have not been easy?

He swings his knife and directs it at Jothan, more specifically near his left eye. "You had one job and you couldn't get it done? How is he still alive?"

Jothan steps back in fear of losing his eye, "I don't know what happened. We went to every house and Kalodor burned anything that was left."

Silas lowers the hand in which the knife is in and positions it at Jothan's chest, shoving it beyond his garment to get to his bare skin. "Clearly, you missed the most important person." Silas comes off a bit unhinged the way he chuckles in a dark tone. "Oh, I should have your head for your incompetence. But you are my friend, so you will endure 30 lashes. Hiram, see that it is done."

Flavia stands in front of her hot-headed husband and places a shaking hand on his jaw. "What is the relevance, Si? He tried his best. It is not his fault that he was outsmarted."

The naive wife almost moves away from him when his dead, cold blue eyes lands on her. "This is mediocre to what should happen to him. He will take it as a lesson so that it never happens again. In addition—" A gasp left Flavia's mouth and she looked at him in disbelief. Her eyes flicker down not believing that the man she loves would drive a sword through her without so much as blinking an eye. What shocked her the most is not that he doesn't seem to have an ounce of regret in his eyes but the fact that she led herself to believe he changed only because he kept her for so long without so much as a complaint towards her. At least none that he made in front of her. She should've known that in the long run, everything is a game for Silas Casteron.

He leans down to whisper in her ear. "Did you think I wouldn't notice how swollen your breasts have become? I told you once that the Casteron line ends with me." He drags his sword across her stomach for her guts to gush out. Without a shred of remorse on his face, as her body falls to the ground gracefully and her lips remain open.

He lets out a breath and wipes the bloody knife on his garment. His eyes come in contact with Jothan's empathizing ones. "Send her back to her family, have Kalodor burn her or have Homer eat her for lunch. Whatever the decision, it doesn't matter; just make sure that she's not here in the next five minutes and that my floor is clean." His lips pressed in a thin line, he scowls at the blood soaking in between the creases of his ceramic tiles. It's going to take a lot of work to get that stain out if they don't work fast.

Silas brings his attention back to Esadom's Page. "You. Report back to Hias and tell him to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. If Obitus is found, kill him and bring him here. I want his head."