Page 35 of Degradation

I don’t feel judged here, I don’t feel babied either. I’m a man, just as they are.

I glance at my cards. Poker is a new game to me, but I’ve got pocket two’s which I guess isn’t so bad. Beginners’ luck has certainly been on my side tonight.

Curtis raises. Everyone else calls. The turn reveals another two, giving me three in total. Curtis goes heavy, reraising and while everyone else calls, I reraise too.

He looks over at me and grins that shit-eating grin, like he thinks he’s got the nuts.

As the final card is laid, I know I’ve got more than a good hand. Quad twos and an ace. Not bad at all.

Everyone else folds, everyone except Curtis but just as I’m about to go all in, a commotion reaches our ears. We glance to the door and Lyndon comes sprinting through.

“Code red.” He says in warning.

We all spring up, hiding the contraband, putting out the cigarettes, knocking back the alcohol before it’s taken off us. Technically, we’re allowed to smoke in here but still.

As I neck back the last of my beer, we can hear him, we can hear his voice echoing down the passageway.

Our barracks are just to the side of the main palace building. In total there are more than a hundred guards stationed here. But only fifty of us are his personal guards and from that, only twenty are in his inner circle. It’s an honour that I’ve been selected to be where I am considering my lack of experience, but I know my size absolutely played into it. Gunther is all about appearances, and who wouldn’t want to look like they have literal giants protecting them?

“I’ll teach you. I’ll fucking teach you…”

His voice rings out and it’s more than obvious he’s having one of his fits again. That he’s in one of his tantrums.

“Here we go.” Danos mutters beside me.

I draw in a deep breath, preparing myself for the tirade of abuse that’s coming. He may be our Chapter Lord, he may havebeen put here to command us by God himself, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a madman. And I of all people would know. Would recognise the signs, considering my own family’s history.

A scream follows his words. It’s high-pitched, definitely a woman’s. We exchange glances and a few of the men start smirking as it dawns on us that it’s not us in trouble here.

He storms in, his hands holding his wife’s hair as he drags her beside him. She’s got one hand clinging to a bit of fabric to try and hide her body, but it only covers the front of her and the guards at the door no doubt get a great view of her arse.

“You want to be a bitch. You want to be a disobedient little bitch…” Gunther snarls throwing her down, slamming her body onto the hard stone floor.

She curls up, shutting her eyes, clearly aware that there’s at least twenty men here, twenty sets of eyes watching her now.

Gunther is seething, his chest is rising and falling as he starts pacing back and forth.

“Chapter Lord?” Commander Malik says.

He shakes his head, muttering beneath his breath like he’s having an internal battle. Like he too is filled with demons, and he needs to exorcise them.

“She needs to learn. She needs to fucking learn.” He snarls, slamming his hands into his own face, slapping his cheeks.

“Chapter Lord?” Malik repeats again, louder.

Gunther stops, he freezes, looking at all of us as if he’s not realised where he is. And then that face morphs from confusion into something akin to hate.

“Well,” he says. “What are you all waiting for? My wife is a disobedient little bitch. She thinks she’s better than me, better than us. She thinks because she has Founder blood that makes her special. That makes her precious.”

He reaches down, grabbing her hair again and wrenching her head up so she’s forced to look at us. “If she won’t behave then she deserves to be punished.”

“No,” She sobs. “Please, please I’ll be good, I’ll…” His boot slams into her side as she shrieks out.

“It’s too late for that. Far too fucking late.” Gunther snarls back before dropping his hold like she’s diseased. “You think you can lecture me? You think you tell me what the rules are?”

He looks around at us all again and his lips curl into a grin. “What are you waiting for?” He repeats. “Fuck her, use her. Make the bitch learn her place.”

I blink back. I think all of us wonder if we’ve misheard him. Surely not? Surely… he grabs Malik, grabs his collar and pulls him forward. Malik is a big man, almost as big as me so he must allow the movement because there’s no way Gunther has the strength to force him to do anything.