Indomitable

t w e n t y - n i n e

The proclamation hit Remi in the stomach like a bag of heavy stones, knocking the air from her lungs.

She stumbled back into the crowd in surprise.

Killure had killed Lord Darium Gallanthus?

But why?

She'd never heard him mention any ill-will towards the lord before. Then again, from what little she knew of Killure, he probably wouldn't tell her anything. He never opened up about his past.

Faye was going to be devastated about not getting to marry the man before he died. Now, all his riches and trade would go to his brother.

She noticed Faye stumble out into the crowd, tears streaming down her face. She ran into the new lord's arms and wept, and he wept with her.

Remi doubted either of them actually cared about the man, but they had to put on a show for the people, and that's what they were doing.

Caede stood on the edge of the crowd, a small smirk on his face. He quickly morphed it into a deep frown whenever Faye turned his way.

A few moments later, Faye turned around and began screaming, her shrill voice raising to an even higher pitch than the crowd's collective hollering. "Burn this beast alive!" she shrieked, pointing a long, thin finger at Killure.

The only way they could have caught him and bound him like this was if he'd fallen unconscious from being too far away from Remi.

A large man stepped on Remi's foot, and she quickly kicked at his knee to get him to move. When he finally did, hardly noticing her, Remi lost her balance and went careening towards the front of the crowd, on the very edge before the clearing.

In unison, the crowd began screaming, "Burn him! Burn him! Burn him!"

Remi's heat began to pound hard against her rib cage, and her mouth felt dry.

Killure didn't run away, but he was willing to forfeit his life in order to kill this one man.

Had he been scouting Darium outevery time he said he was going on a walk? Learning his routine, watching his patrols, until he found every weakness in order to exploit it?

He was a murderer. One of the worst—the kind that enjoyed seeing the life drain from the eyes of his victims and mutilating then with his claws. She'd seen it first hand that hot day on the streets.

He deserved to burn. She should let him.

And yet, Remi couldn't. She trusted Killure. She didn't believe for even a second that he would go to such an elaborate extreme and get himself killed as a result for no good reason.

She couldn't let him burn, no matter how terrible of a person he was. She'd come to truly care about him.

Killure's head groggily snapped up just as the torch was coming down on the straw at his feet to set him on fire.

With her being so close, his energy must be returning to his body.

Going this far away from the Goldridge home must have really sucked every bit of energy from his body. It was a wonder that he was still breathing.