You Forget Your Place | 5.31 | Lazarus, Cygne, Gespard

[Lazarus Shadowmere]

He had not seen her all day yesterday. But then, he was convinced if he cast his eyes upon her, he might strangle the breath out of her, and there was a part somewhere nestled in his mind that said he would regret doing that. Still, she needed to be told… She could not reign over his wife. It was not her place. If she hoped to continue being his mistress, she would learn just where she stood.

She was in the parlor, sitting there as if she was herself a Shadowmere. Gespard was out on the terrace, but at the sound of the door, he turned and came back into the room, leaning against the door post. His blue eyes were still sharp, angry. But they were not as intense as they had been. And while Lazarus was tempted to make a comment to him, that was not why he had come.

“What in the blasted hells are you doing in here?” he demanded, dark eyes boring down upon Cygne. “Have you lost your brain completely? For fuck’s sake, Cygne, have you not insulted my wife enough? You have a room with the other servants. You will go there now and I do not want to see you in these rooms again unless I call for you. Is that clear?”

[Cygne Halcya]

She looked up, startled by the tone as much as by the words themselves. After a shocked moment she stood and stared at Lazarus. "You cannot be serious, my lord," she said, her beautiful voice something between incredulous and mirth. "Have I not been within this chamber many times?"

She paused. "Lazarus, her thoughts on it do not matter- you are lord here. She is nothing to you... nothing to us..."

[Lazarus Shadowmere]

“Do I look like I am teasing?” he asked, his voice level, though that was not always a good sign. “I thought you smart enough to know that once I wed, your visits into my chambers would be by invitation only. Or do I need to catch you up on how to use common sense?”

His eyes darkened. “I am lord here. And I am telling you that you are not to overstep your bounds again. She is my wife. She is the daughter of Lord Ashpool, and I swear by the gods that if you have swayed her against my house, if she writes to her father to plead for a dissolution of this marriage and the alliance, it will be your blood that pays for it.”

[Gespard Shadowmere]

Gespard moved from his place against the door post and glided into the space between them. “I… think we all need to take a deep breath,” he said, trying to hide his smile. It would seem Cygne had grown a pair… And while it was certainly something to be proud of in most cases… well… Lazarus was not one to admire improvement when it meant defying him.

[Cygne Halcya]

She spared a moment to glare at Gespard before she focused on Lazarus again. "How can she write home, with all the shadow watching? Make her write what you want! You're the Shade- who is she but a soft, mainland child- the spoiled daughter of a great lord. That's all she is. She has no claim on you! She has not stood by you, nor loved you- and she never will!"

Cygne took a step forward, knowing it was a risk but how could he be so... so soft? For this wretched pale girl. "Tell me, my love, my lord... my heart... how can any letter she writes escape this island unseen by you? I'll watch her myself if you want. How can it be any obstacle to our life together? If she so inconveniences you kill her and be done! A pregnancy mishap, a Jin assassin, a boating accident. It's worked before, hasn't it?"

[Lazarus Shadowmere]

Lazarus’ eyes flashed with anger, one that made it all too easy to ignore his brother. Striding forward, shoving Gespard out of the war, he pulled his hand back before striking her cheek with the back of it, not caring now if his rings cut that pretty face of hers. “Now you challenge me? My word? Do you take me for a soft man now that I have professed my feelings for you? Do you think that because of my affections, you would be free to speak so disgustingly towards me? It would seem that in our private moments, you have taken for granted what we share and have, in turn, forgotten who I am.”

He wanted to shake her, and the only reason he did not was because Gespard had returned and put his hand on his shoulder to pull him back. “Do you take Lord Ashpool for a fool? Stupid girl, he KNOWS what I am. What I am capable of. He would see right through any excuse we can think up. He has been blind so far because he chooses to be. Not because he truly is. You will not go near her. You will not shame her. And if you wish to remain in Castle Shadow, you will not challenge her. I have given her permission to dismiss any who show her disrespect, and I have given her my word that I will not contest her wishes. So… be warned. You are treading very dangerous waters.”

[Gespard Shadowmere]

He might as well just hand Cygne a shovel and ask her where she wants to be buried. Did she truly think his love would save her…? It was as he suspected. She had no idea who Lazarus was. She was merely infatuated with who he could be.

“Cygne, I think you have said enough. Brother, come… She will not be here when we return. But there is something I wish to discuss with you.” And hopefully she would take that as her cue to leave.

[Cygne Halcya]

Cygna stumbled when he hit her, though she kept her feet, but... she turned her face to him again, eyes wide with horror, hurt, and a sickening, soul-twisting dread. She'd let herself love him, she'd thought... she'd believed... and he... That stupid, blond, loathsome little...

Her cheek was swelling but whether it was blood or tears she felt on it didn't matter. He'd picked someone else over her. He'd let her be a servant, when he'd sworn... promised... given her...

"No! No you don't get to do this! You don't get to push me away. I love you! I'm the one who cares about you, all she sees is island scum. Look in her eyes! You choose titles over your own people?!" Cygne wasn't thinking anymore, it was all falling apart. Everything. Becoming a servant again, a nameless faceless meaningless asset in the Shadow, when she'd stood with him, lain beside him...

She lunged for him, her hand striking out as his had just struck her. "If you wanted a bedmate, I would have fucked you... but no... you play your twisted games... Damn you for it. For everything." She sprang toward him, ever ounce of her training in play, though it would not matter. He was better. She didn't care.

[Lazarus Shadowmere]

“I’m finished with you,” he said, waving her off. Whether he meant for good or for the conversation in general, it would remain to be seen. He was not sure himself.

“What do you wish to dis…?” Hells…

He let her hand strike him but that was only because he needed his hand to slide his blade from his sleeve. Reaching up, he grabbed a handful of her hair and pushed her back until he was able to slam her against the stone wall, the sharp end of his dagger pressed into her throat. “It is because you were not just a bedmate that I give you a chance now. Leave me. Leave my service. I don’t care where you go, but you are no longer welcome with me, in my home, around my family. I want you gone by dusk.”

[Cygne Halcya]

A shriek came as he slammed against the wall but her fact twisted and she snarled at him. "Kill me now, Lazarus, or I swear to Amalthia and all the twelve I will kill her. Tonight, tomorrow, years from now. She'll die screaming."

As she spoke, her own blade slid from its place at her wrist and her arm snaked toward his side.

[Lazarus Shadowmere]

“Lazarus!” Gespard gasped, a true fear settling in. One he had not felt in a long time.

Lazarus on the other hand was quite in his element. He stepped back, hand still locked on her wrist, his foot catching her ankle to trip her. As she fell, he stepped around her, wrapping his arms around her to force her to fall upon her own blade. He heard the sound of it cutting through her skin, burying into her.

“I’m fine,” he said to his brother, surprised to see him looking so concerned.

He turned Cygne onto her back, the knife still lodged between her ribs. With it in still in, she could live. But once it was pulled… “My wife will live,” he told her coldly. “You could have… But it would seem between life and death, you chose Amalthia’s arms.” He bent down and gripped the handle of her dagger, wrenching it out of her and stepping over her body to go to his brother. “Now… what was it that you wanted to discuss. Come, let us take the conversation elsewhere. I fear the sounds of her death will become overly distracting. I shall send a servant in to clean it up straight away.” Clapping his hand on his brother’s back, he led him out into the corridor.