you? Apologize for stopping me?”
Without warning, Andrew reached in a wrapped his long fingers around Nigel’s throat, squeezing him without mercy. Andrew’s face had contorted into a scowl; he wanted nothing more than to see the man be deprived of oxygen from his own hand. Andrew wouldn’t be able to kill him, of course, but the transference between alive in Hell, to death, to becoming alive once again, was the most painful attack on someone anyone could come up with. And Andrew was tempted to spend the entire day slowly killing Nigel, watching him come back to life only to do the same thing once more.
“See, what I can’t understand is why,” Andrew said through gritted teeth as he applied more pressure to Nigel’s neck, ignoring the gasps and chokes coming from the prisoner. “ Why ?”
With that, Andrew released him only to have Nigel respond in some way.
After a moment of coughing and trying to reclaim his breath, Nigel looked up, a gaze of pure hatred written all over his face. But he didn’t deny Andrew’s request, and, in fact, complied with it. Andrew needed to hear this, needed to realize just what became of him, and as a result, his kingdom.
“Simply put, Your Highness ,” Nigel started, each word dripping with emphasized dryness, “you are going soft . I’m not exactly sure if your new trophy wife is to blame, though I think she is. I did what I had to do for the people. The people. You remember your people, yes? How can you appear to be intimidating when you allow some girl to step in a start making decisions for our Court? You ignore what needs to be done because your heart – I was surprised to find that you actually had one – got in the way of your head. This isn’t some fairytale. This is Hell. And I cannot, in good faith, allow you to get soft and risk ruining Hell’s reputation.”
“I am surprised at your concern, Nigel,” Andrew said, his voice low and articulate. “But to be honest, I could care less at what your opinion of your Queen or my rulings is. I am your King, and I shall do what I see fit despite your worrying or grievances. I have no idea what your punishment will be, but a few centuries down here should be plenty of time for me to figure it out. I can promise you this, Nigel. Your punishment will not be pleasant. You will suffer a great deal. And anybody who even thinks of releasing you from here will be locked up and can suffer along with you.” He turned then, and headed down the hallway that would lead him up to the south staircase.
“Do whatever you want to me,” Nigel called after his retreating figure. “But your Queen will get hurt sooner or later at your obvious lack of concern for your kingdom. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
Andrew didn’t even look back as he took the stairs two at a time. That didn’t, however, give him reason to calm down at all. In fact, if he was honest, his stress levels had increased dramatically, and he needed to find some sort of way to calm himself down. To get his head on straight and to figure out what he was going to do if what Nigel had said was correct. If people were planning something against him and Harleen. He’d like to see someone even attempt to do something to her. He needed to make an example of Nigel.
There was one place he usually went to in order to help him reduce stress levels, but before he left, he wanted to check on Harleen, to make sure she was all right. Silently, he walked back into the bedroom he shared with her and found her slipped under the covers, her eyes closed and her breathing steady. A fire was slowly dying out in the fireplace, and something inside of him told him she had burned the dress. He didn’t blame her.
Harleen was sleeping.
Andrew took a long moment to look at her, to really study her and try to capture what was going through her mind in that exactly
Without warning, Andrew reached in a wrapped his long fingers around Nigel’s throat, squeezing him without mercy. Andrew’s face had contorted into a scowl; he wanted nothing more than to see the man be deprived of oxygen from his own hand. Andrew wouldn’t be able to kill him, of course, but the transference between alive in Hell, to death, to becoming alive once again, was the most painful attack on someone anyone could come up with. And Andrew was tempted to spend the entire day slowly killing Nigel, watching him come back to life only to do the same thing once more.
“See, what I can’t understand is why,” Andrew said through gritted teeth as he applied more pressure to Nigel’s neck, ignoring the gasps and chokes coming from the prisoner. “ Why ?”
With that, Andrew released him only to have Nigel respond in some way.
After a moment of coughing and trying to reclaim his breath, Nigel looked up, a gaze of pure hatred written all over his face. But he didn’t deny Andrew’s request, and, in fact, complied with it. Andrew needed to hear this, needed to realize just what became of him, and as a result, his kingdom.
“Simply put, Your Highness ,” Nigel started, each word dripping with emphasized dryness, “you are going soft . I’m not exactly sure if your new trophy wife is to blame, though I think she is. I did what I had to do for the people. The people. You remember your people, yes? How can you appear to be intimidating when you allow some girl to step in a start making decisions for our Court? You ignore what needs to be done because your heart – I was surprised to find that you actually had one – got in the way of your head. This isn’t some fairytale. This is Hell. And I cannot, in good faith, allow you to get soft and risk ruining Hell’s reputation.”
“I am surprised at your concern, Nigel,” Andrew said, his voice low and articulate. “But to be honest, I could care less at what your opinion of your Queen or my rulings is. I am your King, and I shall do what I see fit despite your worrying or grievances. I have no idea what your punishment will be, but a few centuries down here should be plenty of time for me to figure it out. I can promise you this, Nigel. Your punishment will not be pleasant. You will suffer a great deal. And anybody who even thinks of releasing you from here will be locked up and can suffer along with you.” He turned then, and headed down the hallway that would lead him up to the south staircase.
“Do whatever you want to me,” Nigel called after his retreating figure. “But your Queen will get hurt sooner or later at your obvious lack of concern for your kingdom. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
Andrew didn’t even look back as he took the stairs two at a time. That didn’t, however, give him reason to calm down at all. In fact, if he was honest, his stress levels had increased dramatically, and he needed to find some sort of way to calm himself down. To get his head on straight and to figure out what he was going to do if what Nigel had said was correct. If people were planning something against him and Harleen. He’d like to see someone even attempt to do something to her. He needed to make an example of Nigel.
There was one place he usually went to in order to help him reduce stress levels, but before he left, he wanted to check on Harleen, to make sure she was all right. Silently, he walked back into the bedroom he shared with her and found her slipped under the covers, her eyes closed and her breathing steady. A fire was slowly dying out in the fireplace, and something inside of him told him she had burned the dress. He didn’t blame her.
Harleen was sleeping.
Andrew took a long moment to look at her, to really study her and try to capture what was going through her mind in that exactly
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