Isec nodded. “I am.”
“Have you any idea what I can do?”
“With all due respect, I saw quite plainly at the Uniting Tourney what you can do. I saw how irresponsible, naïve and impulsive you can be.”
“And that doesn’t worry you?” Wesley crowed.
“Not in the slightest, my prince. In fact, that is why your father was so stringent with his orders. Now please, go back into your room.”
Wesley was gobsmacked. He turned back, feeling defeated, opening the door to his room a sliver. He could not win this battle. Isec was fiercely loyal to his father, and Wesley did not want to get on his father’s wrong side again.
Honourable cunt. Who the fuck does Batir think he is?!
Before he stepped back inside, Wesley spun back around.
“If your orders were that I could not leave my quarters,” Wesley said, “then I assume father also mentioned ensuring that I am kept happy while remaining in here?”
Isec nodded. “The king said to bring you anything you wanted, so that all your needs are met. As long as you stay inside.”
Wesley sneered upon thinking of a way he could get back at Batir for his insolence.
What better way to destroy an honourable man than to take away his honour? That would be a source of entertainment, for the time-being.
“I have a request of you, Batir. No… an order,” Wesley said.
“Aye, my prince?”
“You will go to one of the brothels down in Scourge Alley. The filthiest, most dimly-lit, worst-smelling, most unsavoury brothel you can find,” Wesley commanded.
Isec Batir shook his head in confusion with a raised eyebrow. “My prince, I don’t understand?”
Wesley continued, coming up with his orders on the spot as he spoke. “You will announce yourself to all the patrons there. Your full name and your position. I want everyone in the brothel knowing exactly who you are.”
“My prince, I-”
“Do not interrupt me, captain.”
The look on Isec’s face became one of embarrassment and distress.
“After that, you will go to every other brothel in Scourge Alley and repeat, until you have found me three of the most beautiful black-haired whores. One, two, three,” Wesley said, putting a finger up with each consecutive number. “And then you will bring them to me, here in my quarters where I can make use of them, and where I shall remain, as father requested.”
“My prince, you can’t ask me to do that.”
“Oh, but I can,” Wesley sneered. “You said it yourself- the king asked you to bring me anything I wanted. To make sure that all my needs are met, did he not? And, well, this is but one of my needs.”
“Alright,” Isec said reluctantly. “I’ll have my men-”
“No,” Wesley snapped. “You will do this for me, not your men.”
Isec’s eyes were begging for Wesley to recant his request. He stood there for a moment, in shock, in silence. Wesley just stared straight back at the captain.
“Or will I have to tell my father of your failure to obey my simple orders upon his return?”
Isec Batir’s mind was clearly racing. His eyes twitched and his skin glistened with sweat.
I win.
“Now, Isec,” Wesley ordered.
Isec scratched his eyebrow before giving a half-nod, finally accepting the task he had been given. A task that would surely humiliate the man.
A man of such high, chivalrous principle, seeking prostitutes along the city’s most despicable thoroughfare! The very idea of it made Wesley cackle as he watched the captain leave.
As he re-entered his room, Wesley picked up his cup that he had hit across the room and drank another serving of wine.
Wesley glared at Ciana, fixating on her smooth curls and soft, pale skin. His gaze, which he had attempted to control on their wedding night, once again rediscovered the alluring curves of her body.
“Wife,” Wesley said. “Get up.”
Ciana tilted her head towards Wesley with a questionable stare, before looking away, ignoring his order.
“Now,” Wesley barked.
“Fuck off, Wesley,” Ciana said, closing her eyes and resting her arms behind her head as she stretched out over the couch.
Wesley finished the last drops of wine, feeling an inner thrill at the realisation that with his father gone, he may be able to get away with more than he normally would.
And what better way to assert his lust for dominance than by bestowing it on his nasty wife?
The wine made his head spin but did little to dull his senses or desires. In fact, it almost seemed to exacerbate his eagerness to follow through with what he was craving.
Wesley grabbed Ciana by the arm and pulled her up forcefully from the couch. She dropped to the floor from the sudden yank, hitting it hard with a thud.
“Ouch, what the fuck are you doing?” Ciana yelled, rubbing the back of her head which had struck against the floor.
Wesley ignored her question. With Ciana fallen on the floor, he stomped on Ciana’s face with the heel of his foot, so hard that he swore it had knocked her out for a moment.
Wesley heard Ciana take in a sharp breath of air as blood seeped from the nostrils of her broken nose. Her skin began to immediately swell and turn blue.
The stomp had been so powerful that Ciana just lay there, half-struggling to get up in a confused daze.
His heart was racing with… excitement?
“Wha-…” she mumbled, reaching out to the side of the couch to hold on to. “Wesley…”
On her knees, Wesley then struck Ciana in the cheek with his already battered fist. Ciana fell back down, spitting out blood and crying out in pain.
“Things are going to be changing around here,” Wesley said in a cool voice, shaking off his bloodied fist. “We are going
