The Reaper's Voyage

Chapter 41

A piercing crack resounds from the whip as it is flicked harshly. He twists it in his hand as he glares at Jothan's marked back whilst on his knees. Jothan purses his lips and swallows hard with his bent to the floor, his eyes red awaiting his judgment.

"Did you have any suspicion of Delyth Aiken's true identity?" He questions his friend with a hard voice. The thought alone that his childhood friend would stab him in the back for someone who isn't who she avouches herself to be burns a hole in his chest.

"It is my responsibility to know any and everything about–" His back arches and he grits down on his teeth. "Yes!"

"Why did you not bring your discoveries to my attention?" His nose twitches and his clenches, his fiery eyes blazing at Jothan.

"After observing her, she didn't raise any further suspicions that she would be a threat." The betrayal cuts deeper in his heart at every word that leaves Jothan's lips. He is obligated to inform him of anything that happens in Lardel Castle. In Delyth's situation, the first thing expected of Jothan is to notify him of her coming to Varusa under false pretense.

He brushes his nose with the back of his hand and turns his back to Jothan, closing his eyes for a moment. "She still isn't considered a threat." He spins on his heels in the split of a second at Jothan's preposterous statement and cracks the whip against his back.

Jothan lets out a loud groan, feeling his skin tear due to the previously healed whipped scars being reopened. "I trusted her and you knew of her deceit and chose not to let me know. Your betrayal is almost as painful as hers. For that, you will be punished by a threefold increase of your initial lashes."

Jothan stiffens his back in preparation for the brutal punishment he is to endure for his failure and betrayal. He understands the depth of the hurt he caused his friend. He should've known better. Next time, he will ensure not to make the same mistake again.

"How is he?" Soo Min asks as they lie in Othmar's bed on one of those lazy days. Othmar leans against the bed post as he listens in on the conversation. Since Delyth's departure, they have kept close contact with Hias. Having supper on several occasions even to enlighten him with any information via letters that she has sent. When the day of the late Queen and would be Princess's death drew closer, he withdrew from their company. They are in their right to be concerned.

"As is any man that mourns his family. It took a great deal to get him in the bath but we succeeded," she reports to them. The last time he mourned for his wife and child was the day it happened. There was silence from the palace and Hias himself. What they fear is him going back in that hole that he was pulled from.

"What is your plan?" Othmar asks, knowing that Delyth never does anything without having a plan.

Delyth takes a deep breath and her chin tips to the ceiling. "To not let him drown."

"I still can't believe you actually became a Dame. I mean I can but...wow," Soo marvels. She surveys her friend from head to toe in a regular gown. Gone is the uniform to proclaim Dame Aiken and here stands the once thief Delyth Aiken.

"I have you two to thank." She throws her arms around Soo Min and Othmar's shoulders. Othamr taps her arm, feigning suffocation. She lets them go, however, Soo Min locks her arm in Delyth's arm with a smile on her face.

Oh, how she missed the moments when it was the three of them having fun without a care in the world.

"Oh!" Othmar blurts out. "I found my target." He nods his head in the direction of a naive looking girl with the brightest of eyes.

"Spot mine," Soo Min announces soon after glancing around for a quick five seconds.

Ten seconds go by before Delyth sees a middle aged man standing next to a goat. "Same for me. Time it."