“Would it not be more effective to bring back Estela? Surely, seeing her plan thwarted would squash any hopes. We’d show them there is no true escape.”
Uvog’s face drops, his eyes darkening as his fists clench.
“Enough of that woman,” he growls. “Lord Fektir thought you stole her to gain an advantage over the Enduares. Youassured all of us that was the case. You made promises. Now…Gods.”
Rholker looks up as Uvog shakes his head.
“You are a love-sick fool starting a war over awoman. How many people have died and will die for one bitch?”
Rholker snaps. He strikes Uvog across the face.
“She belongs to me. Don’t think I don’t know the lengths you’ve gone to secure the prizes in your pleasure house, you filthy hypocrite.”
“I’ve never started a war.” Uvog steps back, wiping blood dripping from his mouth. “Is that why you are working with the witches? Did they give you the power you wanted to get her back? Rholker, tell me that you aren’t that idiotic. There was a reason your father never deigned to work with them beyond minor memory altering.”
“You know nothing of their power,” Rholker growls.
“They own you now, don’t they?” Uvog sneers.
Rholker’s eyes are burning, but he doesn’t respond.
“Tell me,My King, what did you agree to?” Uvog says.
“That is between me and them,” Rholker says with finality. “I suggest you don’t pry if you want to leave here alive.”
The tall, burly giant swipes his arm across the table, spilling ink wells and ruining paper.
“You would threaten your regent?” Uvog shouts. “Is this what you think will work, Rholker? That you can just kill everyone in your way? Soon, you will find no one is left to manage your kingdom.”
“I killed my brother and father, and now I am king. Eventually, the others will learn to fear me.”
“You lied to us when you said you bested them in a fight,” Uvog pushes. “You used filthy power. Khuohr would not be pleased with such blasphemy. He is a jealous god.”
Rholker pulls a knife out of his waistband.
Uvog’s eyes glint, and he mirrors the action by pulling out his weapon.
“Your pretty human has quite an impressive power, just like her mother. Did you promise to give her to the witches?” Uvog searches his face, angling the knife at his throat.
“I am your king. As regent, your job is to advise me. If you cannot do that, I suggest you step down.”
Rholker is practiced with a blade, as was his brother.Those years of training have made him skilled at murder.
Uvog doesn’t back down.
Before either of them can lunge, the door bursts open, revealing Lord Fektir.
He strides in, fuming, with several guards behind him.
Rholker attempts to straighten, but Fektir grabs him by his collar and throws him onto the ground.
The hot fire in Fektir’s eyes doesn’t match the cold expression on the rest of his face.
“You have some nerve,” Fektir says down at him.
Rholker scrambles to his feet. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“The only reason you are still alive is because you made my daughter a queen,” Fektir spits.
