I gave him a chance for none of it.
Without warning, my magic flared, a stream of red smacking into him as I threw him into the wall, his body colliding with the old, stone masonry with a smack.
His scream echoed around us as his guards moved to attention, only to have my magic move into them, freezing them in place as I brought Edmund back to me. His body was little more than a rag doll as he hovered before me, frozen.
My hands moved slowly as I reached into my pocket and produced the sliver of Soul’s Blade that I had pulled from Ovailia’s body.
“I had hoped to connect all the pieces before I did this, but you left me no choice.” With one wide swing, the shard of red cut through the air, glinting in the light before it disappeared into Edmund, slicing through flesh and bone to embed itself into his heart.
With a sound like he had been punch, Edmund gasped, his blood spraying over me as he coughed, mouth and eyes wide in horror. My magic seeped from the guards in one quick movement, every inch of my power concentrated on the man before me, on the blade that was connecting with his magic, freezing his magic, his body, his soul right where it was. I left him staring at me as his life slowly seeped away.
“Father!” Ovailia shouted in disbelief as my magic surged to its full potential, the strength of the power flooding away in a volatile wind, shielding us from the attacks of the guards who came to life within moments of my magic leaving them.
“Take care of them, Ovailia,” I spat, not daring to look away from the man I held before me.
“But, Sain—”
“Now is the time to decide where your loyalty stands, Ovailia. You can be this man’s slave and let him continue to destroy you, or you can be my bride and let me show you what power, love, and royalty really are!” I roared, specks of saliva flying over Edmund’s face with my temper. “Decide who you stand with!”
There was a pause so silent I wasn’t sure anyone was left in the room. For a moment, it was just Edmund and me, his eyes wide as life left him, as he tried in vain to understand what had happened.
“I choose you, Sain.” Her answer came moments before sparks of green flew around us, Ovailia’s magic erupting as, one after another, Edmund’s guards fell. The men he had trained so well were felled by nothing more than a little poison.
“Wonderful,” I soothed as the second to last one fell.
The last man stared at us in fear, his eyes darting around as he obviously tried to decide if he should run.
“Incapacitate the last one. Make him watch. I need a witness.”
Without question, Ovailia stepped away from me, the barrier I had surrounded us with fell to the ground as her magic wrapped around the man, pinning him to the wall with a thud.
“Hello, Damek,” she said, the venom in her voice taking my breath away.
“She’s beautiful,” I sighed as I turned back to Edmund, the fear on his face making it obvious he could feel his magic seeping away, moving into the blade along with his soul, trapping him in there for eternity. “I have to thank you for making me such a beautiful woman. She was flawed before, but now…” I smiled, looking away from him as I licked my lips, my heart thundering through me with need.
Beautiful.
“Sain…” Edmund’s voice seeped through the pain, pulling my attention back to him as he fought the agony I had closeted him with, his soul and magic no more than a ghost of what they were. “Why…?”
“Why?” I echoed, my voice heightened in false mockery. “Why am I killing you?”
His mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air, a faint sound of liquid starting to gurgle from his throat.
He didn’t have long left.
“Because I am tired of being patient,” I hissed, moving closer to him, wanting to make certain he heard every word. “I have spent hundreds of years molding you into what you needed to be, but you didn’t do what I desired. You messed up my plan, which means I have to fix it. And if I have to fix it, then I have no use for you.”
His eyes widened as the truth of what was said hit him. His horror increased as he tried again to talk, but the sound of drowning came louder now, blood drizzling from the corners of his mouth as he tried to breath.
“When I have no use for someone anymore, I kill them. I’d normally have you do it, but I guess I am on my own now. I’m sorry, Edmund, but you’ve played your part. It’s time we throw you away.” With a jerk, I pulled the blade from his chest, his now lifeless body crumbling to the ground in a tangle of twitches and moans as my magic continued to move through him, the last of his life seeping away. “Pathetic.”