Jezebel

Part One: 15

"How?" Ahab whispered.

Seeming to grow tired of the game, Rasaque snatched the long weapon from his assailant. Johan jerked forward before releasing the spear and springing back. He crunched low and balled his fists.

With a grunt, Rasaque snapped the spear in half and flung it aside. He rushed forward at the same moment Johan made a swing at him, parrying the blow with the palm of his hand. The crack of bone breaking rent the air.

Ahab winced at the Johan's agonised scream. His face turned beet red, and the veins of his hands made an appearance the moment Rasaque palm closed over his fist. Black spread from the contact and mapped out, following the trail of Johan's veins. It appeared as though the eunuch was sucking the life out of the man through the single contact.

"What is happening?" Ahab asked, beyond shocked.

"Rasaque is a beast of my gods' making." Jezebel's voice rang with pride. "This is but a glimpse of what is to come if only you let me do the needful."

Ahab frowned at her words; it wasn't enough to explain what was happening.

Another prisoner—the mad one—sprang at the eunuch from the rear. He chanted slurs in a shrill voice, scratching and biting Rasaque with brown crooked teeth. Even with the insane burden at his back, Rasaque clamped a large hand around Johan's neck and lifted him off the floor. The man kicked and clawed at the fist, eyes bleeding red and bulging from their sockets.

Ahab grimaced at the sight but Jezebel laughed, even clapping and cheering the eunuch on. He wasn't surprised. It was the way of her people. They revelled in violence and made nothing of gore.

Still holding on to Johan, Rasaque gripped a handful of the mad man's stringy hair, yanked him over his shoulder, and slammed him to the ground. Blood spewed from his mouth upon impact and he arched his back, agony pinching his face into a hideous mask.

Rasaque gripped the mad man's neck too, holding on to both men until their struggle ended. Their arms went limp and their bodies seemed to shrivel, but the eunuch, on the other hand, appeared stronger, healthier.

"Pl--please!" The third prisoner rushed forward on shaky legs before falling to his knees not too far from where they sat. He flung his weapon aside and clasped his hands together. Desperation burned in his eyes. "My king, pardon me. I do not know what offense I have committed."

"You only make things worse for yourself, Harel," Jezebel said in a dull tone.

"You know this man?" Ahab lifted a brow.

"On my first day, when I went to see the sights of Samaria, he was spotted flogging a boy in public."

"That is not enough to imprison him."

"That's not all. He is also the leader of a cult. He was in the process of radicalising the people and causing an uprising."

"No... no... no... " the man kept mumbling as his terrified gaze shifted from Jezebel to the eunuch. "We had no such intention."

"So you admit to being the leader of a cult?" Ahab asked as he relaxed into his cushioned seat and wove his fingers beneath his chin.

Harel's eyes grew wide. "N-no."

"No? Are you insinuating I am lying?" Jezebel's threatening gaze hinted enough to make Harel whimper. Ahab felt sorry for the man.

"No, I am not." His shoulders drooped as he seemed to accept his fate. "I am sorry if my actions seemed that way to you. But I beg you; do not let me die by his hand." He nodded in the direction where Rasaque stood.