Cass had to gently toss a few guards out of the way that came at him with weapons.
Did he want to do it? Yeah, kinda. It felt a bit like tossing kids up in the air, but slower, and more humiliating for the family known for being knights. It was clear they truly did not think that Cass would come personally.
Foolish of them. Cass had been there when Gideon had been declared a Saint, and if the reason why Byron was pissed and Gideon and Byron weren’t back at the estate was because of it? Well, of course Cass would be coming. There was no way that Cass wouldn’t be storming their damn estate.
It was just a plot of land, and they had been assholes.
They were partially to blame for Fiona and Ava dipping on their responsibilities. Cass knew it, as did the two with him. Were they connecting this dot? Probably not, but Cass was feeling a little spicy, and he was pretty sure his headache was just throbbing to come back.
Cass’ sanity was on a thin fucking leash.
"Sam, knock on the front door." Cass ordered, having tossed the guards like they weighed nothing gently down the long driveway they had just walked down. Cass had recrossed his arms, annoyed, scowling, while Edgar stood by and Sam followed diligently behind. Now Sam moved to knock on the door like a good aide, but his eyes were being drawn in a different direction. Cass turned to Edgar. "Is there a side path around the house?" Cass asked and Edgar frowned, his expression thoughtful.
"I’m pretty sure there is." He muttered, and Cass made a sweeping gesture with his hand.
"Lead the way then." Cass knew his tone was harsh, but he was grateful to see that outwardly, neither Sam nor Edgar were taking it personally. He hoped that continued.
Sam pointed, while Edgar took the lead. Any time a knight came close to them, with a sword out, Cass would give them the ’uppies’ treatment. Taking them on a fun little sky ride where they were then put down, without harm, away from the trio moving through the estate.
Cass would not have it said that he was rough with anything but their pride.
When Cass rounded the corner of the building, getting a full view of the area behind the huge ass mansion, Cass found himself in a knight’s wet dream. A large area for sparring, people to spar with, the sounds of metal hitting metal, men running by, everyone topless and just the general joy of men wanting to improve their physical state.
Cass paused, his feet almost catching on something and forcing him to trip, but he caught himself before he did. Edgar didn’t pause, nor did Sam. Both men were scanning the area, and that was when all three of them caught sight of Byron and Gideon.
Cass felt his damn blood boil at the sight.
The poor fucking redhead was topless, in the sun, his skin already turning a shade of red that made Cass know it was going to be fucking painful later, sweat was coming off of his body, and Byron was standing nearby, vibrating with anger as Gideon knelt on the ground and men who looked like Gideon yelled at him, pacing around him.
Cass could not stop himself from raising a hand to stop this from the distance, but Edgar reached out, lowering Cass’ hand.
"No." Edgar said, and Cass was surprised that the man stopped him. Edgar had liked Gideon longer than Cass had, so why was he-? "Do it up close. Make them realise who is doing it." Edgar said, and Cass realised he was speaking through clenched teeth. Edgar’s eyes were hidden underneath the brim of his protective hat, which was probably a good thing.
He was glaring at the clear family members of Gideon with the kind of vitriol that made the hair stand up on Cass’ body. In an intimidating, and exciting way.
"Yes sir." Cass muttered quietly, glad that his words bounced off of the emotions that Edgar was feeling. Now was not the time for Cass to be aware of Edgar. Right now he needed to keep his mind focused on what was going on right now.
Cass moved across the dusty ground, slowly drawing attention to him as he did so. No one had been able to alert the family about what was going on since Cass had been tossing everyone who came at him behind him. The way which he had already came.
Cass was a little surprised that no one had been alerted, realising that they had all thought that they were big enough that no one would attack them in any regard so they hadn’t sent anyone ahead to let them know. He was sure that they thought that someone would hear the sounds of their fighting and come running.
Now that it was just a few skinny guys crossing the dusty ground, two rather fancily dressed, the third an obvious aide, there was confusion across all of the knight’s faces.
Byron caught sight of them right away, his dark gaze locking on them and Cass could feel the magical energy radiating off of him. It was impressive that he hadn’t flown off the handle yet, and Cass had no doubt that Sam played a significant role in it. He was sure that Cass told him somehow that Cass was coming through their bond.
Cass could see Byron’s shoulders relax, while the family surrounding Gideon. Cass couldn’t get a clear view of what was going on since the damn brothers of Gideon’s were circling him like sharks in the water. Several of the knights had stopped what they were doing, staring at them, none of them stopping Cass as he moved with intent.
That was when Cass spotted something that made his skin crawl. Gideon’s shoulders weren’t just red because of the sun. There were debris around him, things that looked like broken sticks, crumbling bits of wood and other things that Cass was only able to see as he got closer. They blended into the dusty ground.
Then Cass noticed that a few of the brothers had long, thin sticks in their hands. Cass saw red.
They were physically harming him?! They were so fucking dead. No one harmed one of his own, not like fucking this. Had they not learned their fucking lesson when Cass beat a man to near fucking death at the ball? When Ava had healed him, over and over, so that he got the fucking message?
Cass picked up the pace, glancing around, trying to see if the fucker who Cass had beat was also here. In his mind, they all looked the fucking same outside of Gideon because he was attractive in a repressed kind of way, where the others? Too bulky, too wide, with beards that covered their faces but in unmanaged ways. Cass had standards, and none of the men met it.
At least they were all redheads, but that was about fucking it.
"What do you think you are doing to my dog?" Cass demanded, his voice sweeping over the space as he approached. Byron’s eyes widened slightly at his words, but Gideon jerked, his head coming up from the way he had been resting. He had been staring at the ground, his knees on the ground, hands behind his back. He was open, and closed off at the same time.
When he heard Cass’ voice though? He glanced up, a sparkle in his green gaze, before he looked embarrassed. Like this was a situation for embarrassment.
Like Cass had walked in on him in the nude instead of getting whipped in a weird circle jerk by his fucked up family. Cass clenched his teeth before he flung out a hand, and all of the brothers were airborne. Cass wasn’t as gentle as he had been with the guards when he tossed them to the ground, watching them slide across it and create a dust cloud where they ended.
They had dropped the sticks that they had been beating Gideon with in the process, and from the soft whispers from Edgar, and his own hand motions, he was gathering them up himself.
"Byron, why did you stand aside and let this happen?" Cass asked, knowing that there had to be a damn good reason for this. Gideon’s eyes widened, his gaze darting from Cass to Byron. Cass was clearly not amused, and Byron huffed, puffing his chest out, ready to defend himself.
"He was the one who told me to not interfere. I warned him of the consequences, that there was a chance you would not let him go out alone again after this, but he insisted that he needed to come to this disgusting place. He was the one who said it, and that he needed to gather a few things. Instead, he was brought out back, lectured for a long time, forced to strip and then they only recently started beating him." Byron snarled, his lip curling up to show off his anger. It meant something that Byron, a normally reserved man, was so angry.
Cass turned his gaze to Gideon, the victim in all of this, and narrowed his gaze.
"Your wandering privileges have been revoked." Cass told him and Gideon’s eyes went wide.
"What? I had those?" Cass was already upset, and that just made him more upset.
"Gideon, don’t joke right now." Edgar warned. "We are all very upset that this even happened. Why did you let them do this? Please don’t tell me it’s for some foolish reason like forgiveness. You did nothing wrong." Edgar’s words were soft, but harsh. He looked shattered as he caught sight of Gideon’s state.
Gideon glanced between Cass and Edgar, seeming to realise that this was no joking matter and that they were both very upset. Gideon swallowed, his brothers forgotten for the moment.
"I, um, well I came to get the last of my things here. It wasn’t meant to be a long visit, I promise. I was just...waiting around for my father to say my goodbyes when my brothers kind of...ganged up on me." Gideon trailed off. None of that explained why he allowed them to treat him this way. None of it made sense, but then again, if he had been treated like this for a long, long time...
Cass ran his hand over his face, exhausted, the headache back, and rage fueling him.
"I am going to rip their cocks off." Cass muttered. Sam let out a squeak.
"My Lord! Don’t touch them!" Sam protested, and Cass, for a second, thought he was upset at his words. "I can do that so you don’t dirty your hands." Sam told him. Cass glanced at him through his fingers, seeing the eager look on his face, and the horror on both Byron and Gideon’s for two very different reasons.
"Cass, you shouldn’t-" Gideon started, while Byron spoke up at the same time.
"My Lord, do not let him-"
"Alright, fine. I’ll do it." Edgar interrupted, surprising everyone. The man rolled up his sleeves. "What a better way to celebrate the end of an era of leadership then making all three of the Ducal households, along with the royal family, heirless going into the near future?" Edgar said, a bright, too cheerful smile on his face.
Cass almost wanted to stop him, almost did, but stopped himself as Edgar marched towards the dust cloud. Cass helpfully waved a hand so that Edgar had a clear view.
"Shouldn’t you stop him?" Gideon asked and Cass turned to look at Gideon, really look at him before he sighed.
"He’s doing it for you, Gideon. So that your father has to treat you well." Cass told him and watched as Gideon’s eyes went wide. "Besides, I do not want to inflict any of those men on women. I have no doubt we’ll be thanked for our act of service, and if the King gets on my ass about it?" Cass felt his face sour at even the mention of his title. "I’ll have him put on ice so that Lucian can eat him when he comes back." Cass declared.
Byron let out a low, clicking rumble.
"I’ll help." Byron said. Sam hovered.
"Should I go help Lord Edgar? He might need some assistance with the removal." Sam asked and Cass chuckled. He was a proper evil henchman, that one.