Chapter 17 #3
I blinked helplessly at Feloré, hoping desperately it conveyed, Don’t be stupid, human. Apologize. Come on!
“Do you know what the punishment for such a thing is?” Neopal asked.
It was defamation to their bodies. It was the word DOG carved into the skin of their chest, telling every future vultus that legally, this human could be used, abused, tortured, or killed. Treated like a traitorous dog.
“Does it even fucking matter?” Feloré asked, his expression blazing and crumbling in defeat all at once. “My whole life has been a punishment, and I’m so sick of pretending.”
“So, you meant to slander the king?” Neopal asked, hand calmly moving to the dagger in his belt. “And you accept your fate?”
Feloré’s lips curled back in disgust. The word was there. Shaking but ready to be spoken. It was on his tongue. YES—
Then it was gone. Because I fucking took it.
His eyes bulged as he froze, searching for his words in a panic to find them all deserting him, collapsing into limbo as his body transformed into a statue of stone.
My fingers shook from where I stood behind Neopal, taking command of Feloré’s pierced tongue. Then his whole beautiful mouth. I snaked my essence inside him, continuing to steal his words before they could even form, slipping my way down his throat and plunging all the way into his body.
He breathed me in. Then I was inside him. I was filling him. Possessing him.
His limbs were my limbs. His thoughts were my thoughts. And his heart… so wild and thrashing against both of us like it wanted to be free. Everything was glowing with life as I settled further beneath his skin until it fit me like a tailored glove.
Shhhh, human. I soothed his courageous, aching heart as I coaxed him from the brink of his own destruction. I will take over now. Give yourself to me.
I felt the moment he clicked into place. The moment he was mine. Gods. He was mine.
“P-please,” I made him mutter. “P-please, no. I’m sorry.”
I’d never felt something so intimate as commanding him, viewing this world through his lovely eyes.
I could feel the desperation in his bones.
The pain and heartbreak. I could feel devotion for certain people whose names and faces slipped by too quickly to catch. I could feel it all, and I could see.
Neopal stood before us, but it wasn’t him. No. What stood before us was horrifying. It was a black, oily haze of rot. This was how he saw us? This was worse than a monster. This was death itself.
A part of me wanted to see my body in the desperate hopes that I looked different from this, but I was hidden behind Neopal’s rot, and something told me, it’d be just as awful.
I dragged my attention back to the task. Feloré whimpered when I shook our heads and forced him to say, “I shall n-ever utter th-those words. Ever again.”
Fuck, it was nearly impossible, like willing a hunk of rock to liquefy. I tried again, pushing all my strength into it.
“I’m so sc-ared,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean it.”
Neopal loosened his grip on his dagger, but his shoulders were still bunched and tense.
It took every ounce of my focus, but I made our heads bow to him.
“Forg-give me,” Feloré whispered my chosen words. He wasn’t exactly fighting me, shockingly, but I was also too weak to control him properly. “P-please.”
Neopal’s head cocked as he studied him.
I was trembling to hold him in place. I could feel blood begin to trickle from my side. It hurt so fucking bad, and he was slipping. I was losing my grip on him.
Then Neopal nodded.
It was all I needed. I let go.
My soul zipped back into my body, my lungs burning as I broke into a harsh cough that forced me to stagger. Everyone’s head swiveled in my direction. Neopal. The servants. Even Feloré stared as I coughed and coughed.
My eyes were watering, but I managed to find Feloré’s gaze to silently urge him to keep his fucking mouth shut. He was feral-looking, his face flushed and intense, but he must’ve understood. He didn’t say a word.
“Prince Alek,” one of the servants said, her tone alarmed. “My liege?”
“I’m feeling unwell,” I managed, standing as straight as possible with my hands on my hips and my voice a croaking mess. “I’d like privacy, so that I might rest.”
“Oh, of course. Yes, Prince.” She must’ve been the one in charge as the others followed her lead, shuffling into a line to bow in unison while Neopal eyed me.
I managed to keep my cough contained long enough to glare at him. “Something on your mind, Commander?”
He chewed the inside of his cheek as he flicked his gaze between Feloré and me. His mind was sharp, so there was no doubt he’d already arrived at the correct conclusion, but I couldn’t worry about it right now.
And besides, prove it, cocksucker. Prove I’d done anything. I was already carrying a thousand heavy secrets crammed inside my chest like a closet full of monsters. What was one more?
“That a no? Wonderful.” I tipped my chin toward the door. “Kindly, get the fuck out of my room.”
Neopal hesitated. Then he offered me a far-too-formal bow as he retreated toward the door. “I hope you rest well, Prince Alekus.”