Page 11 of The Chains You Defy

Fuck, this was the proof that I’d been correct, no matter how much the others doubted that the merchant would be so stupid.

My hand shook with anger as I recalled all the time we’d wasted following Nayana’s long and winding trail across Ivreia when her abductor had just dragged her to his primary base. Withdrawing my magic, I freed the eyes of the man and allowed him to regain his sight.

“Was that so hard?”

“No, sire…please let me go.”

“Well, you finally told me what I wanted to know. But you also aided that horrible man, and that’s unforgivable.” Holding the senior’s gaze, I bared my teeth. I was losing it, so fed up with suppressing all the anger and rage inside of me, and caving, I permitted my urges to take over. Within seconds, the monster was in charge.

And so, devoid of hesitation, I sliced the dagger across the man’s throat as I kept my eyes locked with his without so much as blinking. I made sure not to cut too deep so he wouldn’t instantly die, just enough to nick his carotid artery.

I pushed the dying human back onto his chair, and since I had to prevent him from staunching the bleeding, I restrained his hands with some twine I found on display on one of the shelves.

With grim satisfaction, I observed how the red fluid drained from his neck wound and, on a whim, submerged my index finger in the warm liquid. My nostrils flared as the stench of piss had finally been completely replaced by the wonderful scent of blood.

While I cherished the melody composed by the dying man’s voice—like a magnificent requiem of pain—I brushed my finger across the wall behindhim, dipping my digit back into his blood again and again, using the substance like paint.

As the light left the old man’s eyes and his song ended, I observed the results of my labor. I canted my head as I examined my handiwork, and just for good measure, and because there was still so much blood left, I underlined my message—twice.

No one could claim that I was wasteful.

Finally, with an unhinged smirk on my lips, I abandoned the store and, with some pressure released from my chest, returned to the inn, where my soldiers would want todiscusswith me how to obtain the information I’d unearthed minutes ago.

I would inform them; they’d want to know how I’d learned about Nayana’s whereabouts. Then I’d brag about my skilled interrogation techniques, which would lead to a discussion about me going on another solo mission, not to mention about said techniques, which my comrades weren’t appreciating nearly as much as I was.

What a nuisance.

This day was getting worse by the minute.

“You wrote:I bled and died because I aided Perran Feroy?Are you out of your fucking mind, Dion?”

Diverting my attention to Fig, I faced him with an unbothered expression. He bore some resemblance to a fish out of water gasping for air, and I shrugged. “I’m done playing nice.”

“You were nevernice. Besides, you can’t go on a murder spree. We talked about this more than once or twice.”

“You and Antas informed me about your demands for me to stand back and not take things into my own hands. But I never agreed. Also, one unimportant human hardly classifies as a spree.” I inspected my fingernails, bored with this conversation already, while trying my best to mask the deep fatigue that had settled in my bones.

My subjects had an inkling I wasn’t fine, but there was no need to allow them to comprehend the full extent of my overall piss-poor health. The weakness was a nuisance and had no right to exist, and as long as I didn’t acknowledge my state as a real problem, no one—especially not myself—would see issues where none existed.

“You’ve been outvoted. Honestly, your approach fucking sucks, Dionadair Dorchadas Coroin De’An Scriosta, ruler of fucking everyone. If this had been your first slip-up, alright. But you’re leaving a trail as wide as the Royal Road. How long do you think it’ll take before the authorities attempt to hunt us down?”

“Oh, I love when you curse, Fiolar.”

“That’s what you’re taking from what I’ve said? Really? You know what, Dion—no one can have a proper conversation with you without starting to curse, YourFucking RoyalHighness.”

“Be it as it may, I got the information. They brought her to Ivreiana, into Feroy’s headquarters. As I suspected the whole time, whileno one listened to me.”

Ivreiana wasn’t only the capital of this world. No, the city was also home to the Ivreian royals. So, it was safe to assume that the place was crawling with all kinds of guards, and to complicate the situation even further, the metropolis was the base of the Ivreian Royal Army. Notthe most fortunate location for Naya to be held captive, but here we were. Circumstances forced us to deal with the hand we’d been dealt and not wallow in what-ifs.

“Dion. Don’t distract from the fact that you’ve slaughtered an eighty-two-winters-old human and painted a message on the wall in his own blood.”

“See, he was so old, he would have died any moment without my interference.”

“Dion, gods. I’m starting to believe Antas has been wrong in taking you out of your environment. You have no restraints.”

I pulled my shoulders up in a disinterested shrug. “Good. Those, like morals, only hold you back.”

“That’s Galrach speaking right there.”