Glevthop listened in silence as Damon explained his story, taking in every word with absolutely no emotion on his face. He seemed focussed on what Damon was saying, but he wasn't all that expressive of how he felt about it. Not until Damon had explained everything up to the exact moment he had stepped into the room, that was.
A hush fell over the room once Damon was done, broken only by the chirping of birds outside and the sounds emitted by the little fountain a few feet outside one of the sitting room windows. Glevthop sat back a little bit, crossing his arms and staring at the floor as he contemplated his next words. "I know it's a bit...odd, my Lord." Damon said, biting his lip as he realized just how fucked he was. There was pretty much no chance that Glevthop's verdict would allow Pandora to live. Even though Damon was in love with her, there still wasn't a viable excuse for some of the things she'd done. Not unless the king and Glevthop determined that her boss was the real issue here. And while it was nice to think that might have been possible, Damon knew there was a good chance it wasn't. Kings and their royally appointed helpers didn't work like that. His only saving grace here was that Pandora had decided to change things and help to right her wrongs. Maybe that would be enough to sway Glevthop and the king to believe it was a good idea to let her live. Maybe.
Glevthop nodded. "It is odd. I think there are stronger words some would use to describe it, which might fit a bit better. But 'odd' scratches the surface well enough." He said, continuing to stare down at the floor. Damon swallowed, knowing that any moment now he was going to hear a verdict on whether or not his lover got to live. And that verdict would be the one that determined the entire rest of Damon's life. He doubted he could live without Pandora. And even if he physically could, he wasn't all that inclined to try. She had changed something in him. Something so deeply rooted in his subconscious that he doubted he was capable of changing it back, no matter how hard he tried. His life and happiness were hanging from Glevthop's opinion of the matter just as much as Pandora's.
Finally, after a long moment of complete silence, Glevthop let out a little sigh. "I don't understand this." He said, straightening up and looking Damon in the eye with the expression of a teacher preparing to lecture a misbehaving school boy. "Out of all the people for you to fall in love with, you chose the one girl who has the most bounties on her head in recent history. There are so many other heroes that you could love, and yet you still chose her. Despite everyone else in the world, it was Viousce." He looked like he wanted to both hit Damon and praise him for just how stupid he could be at the same time. Damon winced. "I know. I would have stopped it from happening, if I knew how. I didn't expect it or want it until it was already far too late to change anything." He sighed. Glevthop shook his head, incredulous. "You really do love her, don't you?" He asked. Damon nodded. He wanted to say something, but there wasn't anything he could really say. He'd told his story. Now he could only wait for a verdict on it. Glevthop let out an exhausted sigh. "Well, I don't suppose there's much I can do about that." He muttered. "Love is such an infernal thing. It comes so quickly and sweeps seemingly sane people up into a tornado of the most unfathomable desires and needs. It is one of those forces that is simply impossible to understand. I don't suppose anyone will ever really comprehend where it comes from or why it hits people so hard and so fast. That being said, however," He added, shaking his head. "I came here to see if our information was right, and if so to bring Pandora Viousce back to the king. This whole situation with you and her complicates things quite a bit, but it doesn't change my orders."
Damon swallowed, hard. "I-does that mean that you intend to execute her, my Lord?" He asked, his heart dropping into his shoes. Glevthop shook his head. "It's not up to me to decide that. Most of the time, I would have some idea of what the king intends to do. But in this case, he is keeping his intentions from me as much as he's keeping them from the rest of the court." He sighed. Damon bit his lip, pondering the few options that he might have. He could always help Pandora to run, and say that she had just escaped. There was a pretty high chance that he himself would be killed for that, but he didn't particularly care. Death was just a light insult when you had a love as strong as his.
"I do hope you're going to do the right thing." Glevthop said, leveling his knife-like gaze at Damon. The young Duke nodded, taking a deep breath. "I suppose I should go get her." He said, half-heartedly. Glevthop nodded. "That would be the best course of action. We'll take her to the castle, and see what the king has to say about this whole thing. I imagine that there will be some points for her to win with His Majesty for joining our side out of her own free will, and wanting to fix the things she's done. But that all depends on the king, and how he chooses to see this situation." He said, standing. Damon got up, too, realizing quickly that his palms were sweating more than ever now. He would have done something to stop them, since it was an obvious example of how he felt about the predicament, but he had more pressing things to worry about at the moment. "I'll return in a moment, my Lord." He said, making another low bow of respect and turning to leave. "Oh, and Damon." Glevthop added, calling him back. Damon turned, realizing he tasted blood in his mouth from biting his lip so hard. "Yes, my Lord?" He asked, ignoring the metallic flavor that spoke to his fears. Glevthop met his eyes, sending shivers down Damon's spine as his gaze cut through to the core of his being and made a painful point without him having to use any words. "Don't do anything stupid." He said, his voice low and threatening. Damon nodded, swallowing his fear of the man and turning to go again. "I won't, my Lord." He said, making sure that he threw the words back over his shoulder so Glevthop didn't see his face. If he had, Damon was sure he would have recognized the promise as a lie.
YOU ARE READING
Morals of a Villain
General Fiction(Completed) Damon, a Duke by right, has never particularly liked the morally righteous narcissists he frequently has to deal with in everyday life. While others might see them as heroes courageously pitting themselves against the horrible and sadist...
