618 The Only King(Part Two)
**WARNING: LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE, AND EXTREMELY DISTURBING CONTENT. READER DISCRETION ADVISED**
Lawrence wasn’t sure how long he’d been tortured for by the time he was given an extended reprieve. His muscles felt like they were about to tear open with every little movement he made. Even though he’d just been healed by a Shaman, his nerves were left raw; like having surgery without any anesthetics.
‘No doubt my brother told him to leave me like this..’
As the thought crossed his mind, he tried to move his body as gingerly as he could towards a glass of water. Knowing how painful it was for him to move, Lawrence’s torturer had purposely left it on a table, on the opposite side of the room.
While dragging his body along the ground, Lawrence wondered for a moment why he wasn’t restrained, but the answer was obvious.. ‘It’s not like I can run or fight.. I’m no threat, so there’s no reason to have me in shackles..’
The reality was worse to Lawrence than if he would’ve been restrained. At least then, he could trick himself into blaming his bindings for his lack of effort in rescuing his wife. But in his mind, it was simply his lack of strength and stamina that prevented him from doing more than dragging his arse across the floor.
‘I’m so pathetic.. If Tidas were here, he would’ve broken free, and saved everyone by now.. Why Shasta chose me, I’ll never understand.. pathetic.. I’m just so-‘
“Hello, little brother. Having a hard time with your legs?”
The pure amusement in Marco’s voice from seeing his brother in such a state made Lawrence want to stand up, and kick him in the face. But his body hurt so bad that it was taking everything he had not to cry out from just sitting up, and appearing as dignified as he could.
.....
Sweat was beading up on Lawrence’s brow line as he nearly choked back his agony. Marco know exactly how much pain he was in, and knew how close he was to breaking. Growing up together had given Marco special insight into where his brother could be damaged the most, and personally instructed his torturer.
To solidify his reign, Marco needed his brother next to him at both his announcement to the kingdom, and at his coronation. If he was missing or having open hostilities with Alcon, then his plan would take twice as long..
‘Meccano and the Highlanders need to see that going to war with me is not an option..’
As he started to run calculations in his mind, Lawrence watched his brother with a leery expression as he asked; “What’s the point of this, Marco? I’ll never follow you, and I’ll Never support you. So why not just kill me?”
Marco stopped mid-step and scoffed; “And give your children a reason to rally their people against me? Oh no, dear brother–I have much bigger plans for you. The only thing is that, I can’t have that pesky, charismatic part of you come out, and declare yourself for our brother again..”
Lawrence smiled broadly; “I guess you’ll just have to cut my tongue out, then. Because the first chance I get: I’m screaming it from the top of the tallest mountain.”
Marco grinned right back at his brother; “Lawrence.. Haven’t you realized it yet? All of your men died bloody because of you. Men I could’ve used, but tossed aside because you made them a liability. They got shredded because you just couldn’t keep that mouth of yours shut..”
Marco paused to motion to a guard standing in the open doorway before continuing; “This is my last offer to you, Lawrence. Acknowledge me as your King, and do as I order you to do, or I start to kill your loved ones. One by one..”
When Marco paused, a guard appeared at the door, dragging something behind him. As he came into the small room, Lawrence’s heart sank as Shasta was pulled in behind him. As soon as his eyes landed on her, Marco added; “And I’ll do it right in front of you. Starting with your wife..”
Shasta wasn’t sure exactly where she was, but she could never mistake the smell that hit her the moment she hit the floor in the tiny room. When she glanced up, Shasta wanted to smile and cry upon seeing her husband. Her heart sang to see him, until she saw the state of his body.
His eyes were sunken in, and he had deep, dark circles under them. He had obviously lost weight, and the stains on his clothes couldn’t be anything but his own blood. It had taken her a minute to realize it because of where they were, but the small room reeked of her beloved’s blood and tears.
A rage Shasta hadn’t felt since her creation started to take over her. The high-grade sealing stone that her restraints were made of began to glow bright orange as it counteracted her magic. Shasta cried out as it burned her fur and skin, but she pushed through it.
“Hang on, Lawrence! I’ll save you!” Shasta yelled as she jumped up, and slammed her body against the guard.
Right as she stepped towards him, Marco was in front of her. She tried to scratch his eyes out, but he had grabbed her wrist, and snapped it like a twig. She howled in pain as she jumped back.
“Now, now, Shasta. Why don’t you be a good little kitty, and calm down? You don’t want anything to happen to my brother, do you?”
Shasta growled at him; “Fuck you, you fucking psychopath! I’ve felt worse pain in my life! No One Hurts My Husband!”
In the blink of an eye; Shasta was in front of Marco with her arm drawn back. Lawrence couldn’t see it because they moved so fast, but Marco had not only dodged Shasta’s punch, but had landed a gut-check of his own on her. Having nothing in her stomach, and after being tortured for over a month; Shasta dropped like a rock.
The second she was on the ground, Marco booted Shasta in her side so hard that Lawrence heard her ribs crack. He called out to her to stop, but that just seemed to spur her on even more. As Marco pummeled her, Lawrence felt the last of his sanity breaking.
“Stop! Stop it, Marco! Just STOOOP! I’ll do it! I’ll do whatever you want! JUST STOP HURTING HER!”
By the time Marco heard his brother’s cries of surrender, his darker nature had taken over. He liked how soft her fur was, it stopped abrasions from forming on his knuckles as he knocked her about the room. A wide, unsettling smile stretched across his face as Shasta finally let a whimper escape.
Marco was about to lose himself to his darkness until Lawrence screamed; “I’ll sign or stand where ever you want! I’ll denounce our brother! I’ll do anything you want! Just STOP! If you kill her, you’ll get NOTHING from Me!”
Marco all but froze as he reclaimed his senses. His hair had become messy, and his shirt had become disheveled in his enthusiasm. Once he’d fixed himself, he looked to Lawrence with a disgustingly smug smile; “I knew you’d come to your senses eventually. You just needed the proper motivation.”
Lawrence hadn’t realized it, but he’d started crying during his desperate pleas and bargaining. Shasta laid on the floor unmoving, except for the shallow rise and fall of her chest. She was alive, but barely, which sent another wave of self-pity through him.
As he sat staring helplessly at his bloodied wife, Marco crouched down next to him; “Are you ready?”
Lawrence didn’t even look at his brother as he spoke in a defeated voice; “I want to see her healed first, then you can do with me as you wish..”
“I can agree to that,” came his simple reply.
Within moments, several Shamans and guards had filed into the tiny room, and carefully taken Shasta out. One came over and healed Lawrence as well, but it hardly registered to him. The only thing that mattered was that Shasta was alright.
After he watched them remove her shackles and heal her, they put them back on, and carried her back to her cell. Lawrence had wanted to say goodbye to her, but Marco refused. He didn’t want to have her lose her cool again..
“I don’t think I could stop myself a second time, brother. It was Very hard to do the first time..”
The unnerving grin that covered his face made Lawrence realize that he had no guarantee that Shasta would remain safe once he did whatever his brother wanted. As they walked towards the dungeons’ exit, Lawrence told Marco that he wanted a guarantee that she would be.
“If you can’t swear that to me right now, then I’ll bite my tongue off right now, and bleed out. Then you’ll have nothing but a headache from my children to deal with.”
Marco had his usual placid expression back as he replied; “You think that you’re ina position to bargain?”
“If you want my cooperation, which seems important to you for some reason, then yes. My family’s safety for me.”
Marco grinned broadly at him; “Oh, little brother.. If that is what you want, then fine. I can agree.”
They walked in silence from then on, until they reached the throne room. Lawrence half-expected to see his father sitting on the throne like always, but knew that it was a child’s fantasy.. ‘Father is gone, and it’s Marco’s fault..’
Anger rose up in him, but the mental image of Shasta laying bloody on the floor had instantly stopped him from doing something crazy. Lawrence knew that his brother wouldn’t hesitate to kill her.. ‘Not just that: he’d enjoy it.. I can’t risk her life until I Know I can take him down..’
It was right then that Lawrence decided that he would listen to his brother, and bide his time until he could find a way to kill him.. ‘He’s a monster.. I’ll do as he says until I can get word back home, or maybe even the Highlanders..’
As Lawrence tried to come up with a plan, he and Marco entered the throne room. All of his guards were present, except for one, but Lawrence had no knowledge of Ahriman yet. The only surprise was seeing Zas standing next to the throne, like an obedient soldier.
After seeing him standing there like nothing was amiss, Lawrence snapped at him; “How could you let Shasta be treated like that?! Have you seen her?! You were supposed to be one of her best friends! My Father’s friend! How can you just stand there?!”
“He has my family,” came Zas’ cold reply.
Lawrence looked at him incredulously; “So fuck the rest of the kingdom?! As long as your family’s safe?! Fuck you! You fucking traitor! You could’ve done something!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zas growled out, feeling shame creeping up his neck as he fought it down.
“Enough,” Marco said in a commanding tone; “Zas, I want you to go to Dragonhorn, and make sure that everything is complete. I want Doctor Stein to start on his new project as quickly as possible.”
Zas looked to his King, ready to argue, but quietly turned and walked away instead. He wanted no part in what Marco was about to do, and even less so with his announcement. He wasn’t sure what the bastard was planning, but Zas understood well enough to know that it was something he didn’t want him knowing about..
As Zas left the throne room, and headed down the hallway, he sighed heavily.. ‘It’s probably better that I’m not around.. That way, I can’t jeopardize my family..’
After Zas was clearly gone, Marco had Lawrence kneel before him at his throne. He thought that he would simply repeat some tired pledge, but Marco had other plans..
With the back of his neck exposed as he bowed, Marco reached up, and touched it. Not even a second later, Lawrence was on the floor; rolling around and choking. His body shuddered uncontrollably as his mouth foamed, and his eyes went bloodshot. Then just as suddenly; his body went limp..
When Lawrence opened his eyes, they were solid black. After he had stood up and began to straightened himself out, Marco grinned evilly as he said; “Welcome to the fold, my dear brother..”
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺