Tyrant's Obsession With The Heiress-Chapter 59: Fire And Ice Are Forever At War With Each Other

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With his ongoing restlessness, Orpheus had long since departed from the solar when his thoughts were swirling out of control.

Lady Karina's words weighed heavily on his mind and after much contemplation, he made his way down to the bailey.

As much as he tried to understand the feelings of remorse and sympathy by himself while looking up at the knights impaled on each pole, it was difficult to find a start.

Staring at the men's faces didn't do any good; even when he melted down the ice shields, he imagined that the gruesome sight would at least warrant some sorrow from him.

Yet, he felt nothing.

There was a slight feeling of guilt and that stemmed from him remembering Lady Karina's tears and her piercing words.

The lady might have claimed she had poor battle skills, but she certainly knew how to strike a man where it hurt the most.

And just as Orpheus had figured, he would need to learn such feelings from the lady herself.

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His inability to comprehend her world was beginning to breed anger.

Anger at himself. Anger at what he'd done. Anger for bringing tears to her eyes.

If it was her request for every knight to receive an honourable burial, then so be it.

It wasn't long before Orpheus was joined by his cousin Maleck, who had been observing him closely ever since he arrived.

Maleck came up beside him, glancing up at a young knight who seemed no older than eighteen impaled on the pole before them.

"What is on your mind, Kaius?" Maleck questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

Orpheus didn't take well to the mention of his birth name.

His crimson brand mark flared and Maleck simply chuckled in response.

"You are still bitter towards that name, I see," Maleck said, leaning against the pole. "You are restless and lost. I have never seen you contemplate the death of those you cut down."

Orpheus was in no sober mood to explain himself to anyone.

As their liege, why did he have to explain his feelings, actions, and decisions to them?

Maleck, on the other hand, was not one to berate Orpheus for the way he conducted himself.

"You are aware that it is not with judgement I speak, but curiosity, yes?" Maleck arched his brow and ran a gloved hand through the coarse strands of his long auburn hair. "It is unlike you to be charmed by a woman to this extent, so tell me, why her?"

If Orpheus had to guess, he couldn't quite explain or answer that question.

Lady Karina was the opposite of everything dark he'd ever known.

She was something so out of his reach that no matter how much he forced her into his arms, he would never truly have her heart in his hands.

Why did he ache for it so much? Why did it bother him whenever the lady regarded him in a negative light?

"Do not ask me ridiculous questions," Orpheus answered sharply, his jaw shifting.

Maleck snorted in amusement. "Stubborn bastard as always."

"If it is boredom that has taken you, then you best make yourself useful and summon Siegmund and Lyall down here," Orpheus ordered, quickly dismissing the topic his cousin tried to stir.

Maleck raised an eyebrow. "Are you treating me like a messenger boy?"

"I wasn't aware that your ears were clogged or that you were going senile and becoming hard of hearing." Orpheus raised an eyebrow back at him. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

If it was anyone else who spoke to him in such a manner, Maleck would have plucked out their tongue by hand.

But since it was his cousin, he chuckled to himself.

"Whatever you say, you raucous bastard," Maleck remarked playfully, briefly tapping his hand on his cousin's shoulder before he left to accomplish the task.

Orpheus didn't waste any time in setting out to do what his lady had requested of him.

He began from the left end, plucking out wooden poles that were stuck solid in the ground with his bare hands as if they weighed nothing.

He brought down the first pole, removing the knight's body and laying it down gently.

In frustration, he hurled the pole across the bailey with such force that it crashed into the wall and burst into splinters.

That was one way to channel his rage, but seeing as his entire body erupted with crimson flames as his fire unleashed, it wasn't enough.

It was as if the fire were burning through his veins along with his black frost mark igniting to temper the heat, but its efforts were in vain.

While most might have envied him for bearing a second magical mark, Orpheus considered it a secondary curse over the curse he already endured.

Fire and ice were two halves always at war with each other.

And when Maleck returned with the two requested knights, they were surprised to find their liege walking around with a sea of flames around him.

They watched as he removed the second knight and hurled the pole as he did the first, only this time it left a crack in the wall.

"What is he doing?" Lyall questioned, his eyes glued to the sight in front of him.

In all of his years fighting alongside Orpheus, he'd never seen the man bring down the dead from the poles.

He usually left them to be devoured by vultures and crows until nought but bones were left.

"If you have the courage of a fool and wish to question him, be my guest," Maleck answered. "I do not know what madness has possessed him, but it is best we do not ask."

Siegmund shook his head in response, stroking his beard.

"I've only seen his fire flare that potently once in the time I've fought alongside him," Siegmund revealed with a heavy sigh. "I assume he summoned us to help with this task."

Lyall didn't understand why Maleck and Siegmund were so accepting of their liege's change in behaviour.

While he would never question Orpheus directly, it was a call for concern that the man was breaking his own laws and rules for a woman he barely knew.

Was she truly a witch, as Hendrix claimed her to be?

Lyall certainly wasn't fond of his liege going against what was known as their norms, but now was not the time to bring it to attention.

And when Orpheus had reached the fifth pole, he halted and glanced at the three knights.

His flames were still about him, his entire body oozing heat that they could feel from where they stood.

"I did not summon you lot to stand as useless as the stone sentinels on these walls," he growled out, gesturing to the poles. "I want these down before the morning. Now."