Page 79 of Ties of Dust

“Your Highness?” His captor gave him a meaningful look. “Are you ready to comply?”

“You know I can’t do that,” Cassius growled.

He couldn’t start a war. If he wrote the letter, Sir Keavling would kill him, and make it look like Torrens had assassinated his father’s heir. War would be inevitable. Many would suffer, many would die.

“Not so cooperative, then.”

The words were barely out of Sir Keavling’s mouth when the world spun as the first man kicked Cassius’s chair out from under him, sending it—and him—crashing to the floor. A grunt of pain escaped him as his shoulder and hip bore the brunt of the impact.

Flora’s shoulder. Flora’s hip.

Cassius tried fruitlessly to struggle up before he was incapacitated by a kick to the stomach. The pain that blossomed was nothing to the silent cry of agony that reached him through the tether.

“STOP!”

The word came out as a roar. He barely felt the pain in his body anymore, and was barely aware of the blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth. His mind was completely consumed by Flora. The knowledge that she was alone, bound, and being beaten by an invisible assailant on account of him…the agony of that was impossible to endure. That pain might just kill him.

“It will stop as soon as you write the letter,” Sir Keavling told him.

“There must be something else you want,” Cassius panted, trying to force his frantic mind to think. “Something else, anything else. Please, stop. Just stop.”

There was a moment of silence, then Cassius heardfootsteps, and the other man’s face suddenly appeared down at his level.

“Please?Is the prince of mighty Carrack begging? But where is your pride?” His voice took on a mocking edge. “Isn’t your kingdom the greatest force in the region? Shouldn’t we all bow before you?”

Cassius glared back at him, consumed with hatred for the man. But he said nothing, his chest heaving with his ragged breaths.

“Beg, prince.” Sir Keavling’s voice was soft now, and dripping with malice. “I want to hear you beg for mercy.”

For a moment, Cassius wrestled with himself. Could he bear to demean himself to this vile man? Not so long ago, he would have thought he’d rather die than do it.

But things had changed in that short time. Everything had changed.

It was his pride that had dragged Flora into this nightmare, and he couldn’t let his pride be what killed her.

Sir Keavling drew back, putting his foot against Cassius’s neck. Slowly but inexorably, he pressed down on it, the pressure making Cassius splutter for breath.

“I can’t hear anything,” the other man prompted.

Cassius’s mind latched on to the awareness of the tether, the thin strand in his consciousness that connected him to Flora. He gripped it like a lifeline.

“I beg you,” he forced out.

The words were more bitter than the blood in Cassius’s mouth. Lying on his side on the ground, bound to a chair, with the other man’s foot on his throat, was the most humiliating position he could imagine. And yet, he didn’t regret his words.

Sir Keavling removed his foot from Cassius’s neck. Theprince relaxed marginally, only to tense again as the imposter delivered one more swift kick to his midriff.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

Cassius’s muscles strained against the bonds, but he forced himself to keep his head. It wasn’t about him. It was about Flora, alone and trapped and suffering each blow twofold. The thought was more unbearable than any loss of pride.

“I beg you to stop.”

His voice was clear and precise, and Sir Keavling drew back at last. He knelt down, his face a mask of disdain as he took in Cassius’s bruised form.

“You are pathetic. Is this all the strength Carrack has? You called me a snake once—that last blow can be recompense for that. But you are nothing more than a cowardly worm. And your kingdom is no better—a backwards tribe of barbarians, who relegate magical study to the lower classes and surrender their dignity in a vicious scramble of every man for himself. Your pitiful begging won’t save you or your kingdom. We will crush Carrack, and your fool father won’t even know it’s happening until it’s done.”

“Sir.” The sharp voice came from outside the room. Cassius couldn’t see the speaker.

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