He walked around her and picked up his blade. He considered her for a moment. Then he took her head too. He watched her body fall and the cat screamed and ran off.
Oh. The young one. I want her blood.
Ashiyn stabbed Sihtaar through the child's body so the sword could drink, irritated slightly by its almost giddy demand.
He turned around to grab the man, who was now trying to crawl away, and dragged him back to the table with the knives. As the blade fed on the blood of the innocent child, Ashiyn sated himself with the screams of her abusive father as he flayed the man alive with his own dagger.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Ashiyn returned to his castle just as the night started to fade. Nthir fled out of his way, disturbed by the gore dripping from Ashiyn’s armor, as he stalked through the halls to his room.
The curtains were pulled back from his windows, so the fading moonlight lit the room. Seraphine slept on his bed with the light from the window highlighting her curves and the beautiful features of her face.
Too exhausted to appreciate her right now, he turned to his sword's case. He spent the next half hour cleaning all the dried blood off the blade. Once he was certain he hadn't missed a drop, he laid the blade back in its glass case. It lay dormant. Sated. Quiet.
Ashiyn felt sated as well. He walked into the armory and removed his armor. With great care, he cleaned every speck of blood and gore off the enchanted black metal before returning it to the stand.
The next stop was the washroom where he cleaned himself with equal precision. By the time he sank onto his bed to sleep, dawn peeked through his windows.
Seraphine stirred as he laid down and scooted closer to him. Her hands trailed over his back softly, her long nails tickling his skin. "You were gone all night, my King."
"Yes." Ashiyn agreed. He closed his eyes. "Would it disturb you if I told you I was out slaughtering an entire village? I spared no one. Not a single woman or child."
"No," Seraphine replied, as she cuddled against his back. "Your reputation is well known. It would shock me more if you suddenly were to stop killing."
Ashiyn glanced over his shoulder at her with a scowl. "It does not bother you?"
Seraphine's smile lit up her eyes in an intoxicating, delightful way. There was something wicked about it. "I am no stranger to death. Nor do I fear it. Nor do I fear you. Does that disturb you, my King?"
Ashiyn considered her question as he watched her unusual eyes. Again, he felt something strange come over him when he looked into them. "What are you? A siren? An enchantress? Never has a woman stolen my attention the way you do."
Seraphine gave him a look of wide-eyed innocence. "I don't know what you mean, my lord. I'm merely a simple peasant from a simple town."
Ashiyn knew better. There was something about her. But she was pleasant, both in her physical features and the fact she didn't act like a scared insect expecting to be killed every time he touched her. "Why don't you fear me?"
"Predators don't hunt other predators. They hunt prey. I have never been prey, my King," Seraphine replied simply, then slipped her arm around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder. "You should rest. You are exhausted to the bone."
"Torturing for hours will do that. Do you have any idea how long it takes to skin a man with a small knife?" Ashiyn asked as though it were the most normal thing. "He deserved it though. He was going to torture his daughter's cat in front of her."
"Why did you kill the child, too?" Seraphine asked. Just curiosity. No judgment in her voice.
Ashiyn took a while to answer. "There was no saving her."
"I understand." Seraphine said softly. "Rest. I will have Soryn make you something to eat when you wake."
Ashiyn rested, although he wondered just how safe it was to lower his guard with this woman even for a moment. But what did it matter? He was immortal. He could die, but he would always come back. His master had certainly proved that.
The day came and went as he slept. He woke only because Seraphine shook his shoulder as she set a tray of steaming food next to him. The smell of the food roused him, and his stomach rumbled as he sat up to devour it.
Once he had finished the meal, Seraphine set aside the tray and let him devour her. They had just settled to lie there, spent, when Soryn knocked on the door. He cracked the door open to peek inside as if he were afraid of what he would see. "My King, there is a man outside. He claims he is an emissary."
"Feed him to the Nthir," Ashiyn commanded with a dismissive wave.
"That's not any way to make alliances, my King. You want the world to give you control, yes? Some are gained only by trust and promises." Soryn opened the door wider so he could step inside. “I think it would be best for you to meet this one.”
Ashiyn gave him an irritated look, then rose and dressed. "Did he even say where he was from or who sent him?"
Soryn fell into step next to him as they walked briskly through the halls to the entrance. "The man is an emissary to Lord Errance himself."
Errance? Ashiyn raised a skeptical
