Chapter 76: There is always room for improvement
The scent grew stronger, and the sobbing grew even more pathetic.
"N-No! Anything but that! Please! I-I would rather have my bones broken then have the Lord make a mess of me!" The man begged, pleading for his life and Cass yanked his head back further. He sobbed louder, snot and tears running down his face. "Please! I beg you! I am sorry my lord! Forgive me for my crimes!" He was a mess, and Cass had barely touched him.
What a weak fucking man. Cass released him, getting to his feet with open disgust and Byron moved forward, offering him a handkerchief. Cass took it, wiping his hand that he had used to touch the other man before he raised his leg, and aggressively pushed the man over. He fell over in a sobbing, urine-stained, mess.
"Fine, if you’re crying so much, I will have Sir Forsythe take over the duty of disciplining you. Sir Forsythe, tie him up in the yard for the others to see and whip him until he passes out. Have someone stand guard, as we don’t want him dying, but once he wakes, lash him again. Do this for a full day, and once that is done have all of his possessions stripped from him and kicked off of the property. I will be kind enough and leave you some ointment and bandages to wrap yourself in." Cass sneered, standing over the man as Cass practically read him a death sentence. "Let us hope that a god takes pity on you, since I will not. You don’t even know the weight of your crimes, do you?" Cass could feel the anger taking over again, but when he saw the pure terror in the man’s expression, he didn’t dim it.
"Please, my Lord, s-show some leniency. H-Have I not served you since you were a child?" Cass laughed, tossing his head back as the cruel laughter left his lips.
He could feel his body begin to shake, his hands trembling as suppressed anger, rage and bitterness filled him.
"So that was you serving me? Or should I forget the time you had an archer shoot the leg of a horse I was riding and had a connection to so that it had to be put down? Or the time that you put a mouse in the stables knowing that the horse I was going to ride was afraid of rodents? Or about the time you spooked a horse I was riding and I nearly fell off a cliff and died? All of these things happened while I was a child, and those are only a few of your crimes from that time." Cass didn’t think that Lord Blackburn was speaking through him, but the memories were flooding back as he spoke. His lips were moving, the anger real, and sat like bile in his throat.
Cass felt like he was choking on the emotions that were flooding his body. The feelings that Lord Blackburn had no doubt sealed away so that he could remain normal, remain sane, remain alive, were breaking free as he had this man cowering before him. Cass fucking hoped that his eyes glowed bright red, just to prove how villainous he could truly be.
The stablebitch was palling by the second as Cass narrowed his eyes at him.
"The only reason I took you in was to gain a benefit from my grandfather. You are no longer needed, nor tolerated for your bad behaviour. It is a kindness that I am not chopping your limbs off as I stated before. People have had their limbs cut off for far less than what you have done." Cass snarled, and the man’s eyes rolled back in his head as he fainted.
"Fuck!" Cass exclaimed, turning and kicking his desk. That wasn’t what he wanted to happen, and Sir Forsythe sighed.
"Might I suggest, next time, you have me beat them up a little bit before you drag them here? That way they have two focal points to worry about when it comes to fear and pain? You can be quite intimidating, my Lord." Sir Forsythe’s tone was calm, smooth, and because of it, Cass was able to remain calm as he heard the words from him.
"Do you think that was the issue?" He asked and Sir Forsythe stared down at the man, open disgust on his face.
"Oh, there are several issues, one being his lack of a spine, but I would say that for the future, that might be something we should do. Of course, only if you agree my Lord. I would not like my limbs cut off, thank you." Sir Forsythe...had told a joke? In this situation?
He thought that right now was a good time to crack practically his first fucking joke while Cass had been around?
Cass raised his hands to face and felt his shoulders start to shake. God, if he hadn’t been absorbing Lord Blackburn’s feelings at the moment, he might have actually laughed harder. Too bad he was filled with an unquenchable rage that was clouding his mind.
"I will keep that in mind. How about, if you ever betray me, I just let you loose into a dungeon on your own and if you make it out alive, you are forgiven?" Cass suggested, peeking out through his fingers. Sir Forsythe had paled, before he swallowed.
"My Lord, if you are testing my loyalty, you could just say so. I promise you, I have no desire to do such a thing, and if what I did today upset you, please just say so. You know normal people can’t run dungeons." Sir Forsythe said and Cass chuckled. Ah, that was something he should have known, but Lord Blackburn hadn’t given up those memories yet.
It was also not mentioned, at all, in the book. It wouldn’t be, since no one in the hero party was ’normal’.
"Hmm, well, we can always try, now can’t we, Sir Forsythe? Just remember, it’s always an option even if you don’t betray me. If you want to test yourself." Cass offered, his smile dangerous as he uncovered his face. Sir Forsythe gave him an uneasy look.
"I...thank you for your generosity, my Lord, but I feel I will be tested enough when Lord Draken comes to make sure I am capable at my job." Cass did laugh at that, a new wave of anger filling him.
Right. That sonofabitch was coming to test his people again. Because he didn’t think that they were adequate. While that might have been true about some of them, mainly because they were hired by his grandfather, and not Lord Blackburn himself, it was still insulting.
Cass had dealt with it because he had been trying to save face.
He didn’t want to do that anymore.
He wanted to shout, he wanted to scream, he wanted to destroy. He was so tired of just sitting back meekly and letting everyone just walk all over him. He was more than this. He was Lord Cassian Motherfucking Blackburn, and he-
Cass gasped, his heart racing in his chest as he realised that these weren’t his feelings, not entirely, and he had almost been swallowed up by them.
"My Lord?" Sam asked, stepping towards him with great concern. Fuck.
How long had he been standing here? What had happened? Had anything happened?
"I...How much time has passed?" Cass asked, glancing around. The disgusting waste of a human was still unconscious on the ground before him, so not too much time could have passed.
"Not long, but we were speaking to you and you weren’t responding. Are you alright?" Cass didn’t think so. This was strange. He hadn’t felt like that before. Before, he had felt completely other than Lord Blackburn, but that...
Fuck. He was going to have to speak with the fucking ’gods’ again. He had hoped he was going to be able to wait longer, but that was concerning.
He had no idea how to even speak to Lord Blackburn about this, and he had no idea what was going on either. It was concerning, since he didn’t think either he or Lord Blackburn had been in control.
"I’ll be fine. I was just consumed by my anger." Cass muttered. "Byron, go clear out his room. Pull up floorboards, search bedposts, tear everything apart. You are looking for anything he’s taken, information, anything. Sir Forsythe, you are in charge of the punishment I said. Make sure his fingers swell to the point that it hurts to take off the rings after. Maybe even had to break them to get them free." Cass told him, and Sir Forsythe nodded, his expression grim and his gaze sparkling with malice.
"Of course, my Lord." Sir Forsythe gave him a salute, before he, with the help of Byron, picked up the man and carried him out. When Cass gave them a strange look, having wanted him to be dragged, Sam spoke up.
"We do not want to create a trail of urine, my Lord. Not on the carpets." Cass could understand that logic. They were his rooms, not someone else’s, and Sam was the one in charge of that. He could absolutely spare him that. Cass sighed heavily.
"Then just make sure to drag him when you are off the carpet then, alright?" Cass told them and met their gaze. Sir Forsythe nodded, grimly determined as Byron had his back to Cass so he couldn’t see his expression.
Cass turned to Sam, taking in his excited expression, and the flush to his cheeks. He seemed very excited after everything that had happened, and Cass, was now fully exhausted. The rage was still in his chest, still hammering away at his ribcage like a crazed animal, but he was too tired to deal with it.
"Sam, help me carry that basket into the bedroom, would you? Some of the food is still salvageable, right?" He asked and Sam blinked a few times, before he turned his gaze to Cass with a smile.
"I’m sure, my Lord. Shall I carry it to your bedchambers and wait for you there with your nightwear?" He asked and Cass nodded. Sam bowed, before grabbing the basket and skipping off to wait for him.
The smell of urine filled Cass’ nose and he nearly choked. He stumbled back, falling into his leather chair as he covered his mouth and the dark, horrible laughter tumbled out.
The first step. He’d taken the first step into clearing the mansion of people his grandfather had put in place.
Now he just had to wait to see what kind of consequences were going to come from it. He could already tell that Lady Ava was going to protest everything he ever did every step of the way. He knew it, but at the moment, he couldn’t give a single fuck about her feelings.
He had so much anger directed towards her. He wondered why Lord Blackburn hated her so much. It was never explained, and he had been...cordial in Lady Fiona’s mental image. Cass wasn’t quite sure that was the case, but he also didn’t think Lady Fiona was a liar.
Fuck, he just wish he had all of Lord Blackburn’s memories.