“Oh! E-E-Elder Soayi!” the bandit on his feet stammered, hurriedly bowing to greet their elder. “W-w-we didn’t expect you back so soon.”

Soayi raised an eyebrow in surprise. “What do you mean?” he asked. “It’s almost midnight. I should be in by now, no?”

The bandit went mute.

Soayi, giving him a strange look, shook his head before walking towards the bed on which Oren slept. Everyone held their breath as he moved on.

He stopped when he saw the bed untouched and unoccupied. Frowning, he turned to those around him.

“Where is Oren?”

The bandits exchanged uneasy glances, and a heavy silence hung in the air. He had come at the wrong time. Now there was no way they could create any fable to keep him from discovering the shocking events of the past day.

Kael nervously stepped forward, sweat beading on his forehead. “Oren?… umm… he-he-he’s not here,” he stammered.

Soayi’s brows furrowed. “Not here? But, where else would he be? It’s midnight. You’re all supposed to be here.”

The silence in the room was defeaning, which puzzled Soayi all the more. Why were they acting so aloof and awkward?

“Is something going on? Where is he, Kael? Tell me the truth.”

Kael hesitated, swallowing hard as he noted the elder’s expression begin to darken.

“Kael, I’m going to ask this one more time. Where is Oren?”

Kael looked around. Everyone’s facial expression conveyed helplessness. There was no hiding the truth from the man; it had to be said.

“Umm… Elder Soayi, you see, something happened. We had to…to… uhh, we, uh… we had to…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say it, but Soayi’s eyes bore into him, demanding answers.

“To what, Kael? Spit it out!” Soayi’s voice was now laced with anger.

Kael finally broke down, tears streaming down his face. “We had to toss him into the tiger’s cage,” he confessed, his voice trembling.

The revelation hung in the air for a few seconds, like a storm about to break.

Soayi’s face contorted with a mix of shock, disbelief, and fury.

Oren, his own flesh and blood, tossed to the lions and tigers?

He drew his dagger with a menacing snarl, and the other bandits stepped back, terror-stricken.

“You…you did what?” Soayi roared, his voice echoing through the room. “You threw my cousin to the tigers? After all we’ve done, all the lives we’ve taken, you had the audacity to take my cousin’s life?”

Kael and the others cowered before the enraged elder. They knew in a second, he could have a good number of them dead.

“Elder Soayi, believe us, we had no choice! Please!” Kael pleaded, on his knees. “It was Lord Dreck that made us do it. Honestly. Oren…he hesitated for just a moment when Lord Dreck ordered him to toss a little boy into the lion’s cage. He hesitated for a moment, and our lord just flew into a rage.”

“It’s true, Elder, it’s true!” Mealor agreed quickly. “He made us do it, then told us he’d kill anyone who hesitates like he did. Please, Elder, we didn’t want to. We didn’t. But Lord Dreck was so angry and…”

Drifting off, Mealor shook his head, not knowing what else to add.

Soayi stood there, breathing in and out angrily.

The death of that young bandit shook everyone hard, but they all knew their shaken state would be a joke once Soayi found out. He was shaking with fury, yet those closest to him could see tears beginning to glisten in his eyes. He could not believe his boy was gone, just like that.

“You killed my boy… you killed my boy… you killed my boy… YOU KILLED MY BOY!”

His whisper gradually turning into a bellow of livid anguish, he let out a scream of ire before storming out of the room.

The door slammed shut.

The bandits, hearts pounding after that frightening outburst, looked among themselves. “What’s going to happen?” Kael asked worriedly.

Mealor shook his head sadly as he stared at the door. “No idea. But… whatever it is, it’s going to be ugly. Very, very ugly.”

***

Storming down the hallway to the throne room, all Soayi could see was red.

This was unbelievable! His beloved little cousin, dead? No! This was not acceptable. It just was not acceptable.

Arriving in front of the door, he kicked it open and entered.

Sure enough, there sat Dreck, looking a bit startled by the sudden action. Somehow, once he saw it was Soayi, he leaned back, a sadistic smile on his face.

“Lord Dreck!” Soayi bellowed, his voice echoing through the room. “How could you? You had my cousin, an innocent soul, mauled to death by lions! How could you! You’ve gone too far this time!”

Dreck simply smirked. He knew Soayi would blow a fuse over his action that morning. Not that he cared, though.

“Ah, Soayi,” he purred, “I see you’ve come to sing the chorus of outrage. I expected it, to be totally honest. But let me make one thing clear—”

Soayi interrupted him, his anger boiling over. “There is nothing you can say to justify your actions, Dreck! My cousin was a good kid! He was a good kid, and he didn’t deserve this! Not in the least!”

Lord Dreck’s thin lips curled into a sinister grin. “Hah, you’ve misunderstood it all, old man,” he sneered. “Your cousin’s death is merely a message. A reminder of who holds the true power in this place.”

“What are you talking about?? He’s one of us, for heaven’s sake! He had allegiance to you! Do you know what he did for you and your rule just yesterday? I was going to tell you-“

“Allegiance holds no sway here, Soayi. Power does. And I have the power. Whatever I say is what goes. It’s that simple, you know.”

As the other elders walked in, wondering what was causing this shout-down, Soayi could not believe his ears.

“Whatever you say goes?? Even if it results in the death of one of your men who is not openly rebelling against you? Seriously?” he asked incredulously.

“In my world, power and dominance are the only things that matter. Understand that and get over yourself, mortal. In any case, the boy was weak. I have no tolerance for that rubbish.”

“He was my boy, for heavens’ sake! That was my younger cousin! He was family, Dreck, family!”

Dreck leaned forward, his piercing gaze locking onto Soayi’s enraged eyes. “Family, you say? Do you really think that sentimental bond means anything to me? You must be senile!”

Soayi’s face reddened, and he spat out his words like venom. “This is unacceptable! You will regret this! I don’t know how, but I swear, Dreck, you’ll regret this!”

Dreck’s expression darkened further as he rose from his throne, towering over Soayi. That promise had certainly touched a nerve. “You dare threaten me, Soayi? You actually dare to threaten your lord? You must have forgotten who you’re dealing with. I’m your lord, and you kowtow to everything I say or do. You have some nerve telling me I’ll regret killing the boy. I regret nothing!”

Looking up as Dreck made his way down, Soayi was barely moved. “If only you knew what that boy did for you, you wouldn’t be talking this recklessly…”

“I don’t care what he did for me! It doesn’t matter; it’s irrelevant to me!”

“Really? Do you even know what he did for you?”

“I said it doesn’t matter to me-“

“HE SAVED YOUR REIGN FROM GETTING OVERTHROWN!” Soayi screamed at him.

“HE COULD BRING MY DEAD BROTHER BACK TO LIFE FOR ALL I CARE! IT DOESN’T MATTER TO ME!!” Dreck yelled back at him.

The two stood face-to-face, both breathing heavily, the rage as palpable as could be in their breathing. Bikama, Munito and Sakisor, the other elders, stood nearby, looks of worry and disapproval on their faces. Worry that Dreck would hack their fellow into pieces, and disapproval at Soayi’s brazen confrontation and disrespect.

“Now you listen to me,” Dreck snarled, a finger in Soayi’s face. “You will get out of my face, and you will never raise this issue around me ever again. If you ever mention this and it’s not an unreserved apology for this foolishness you just displayed, then you will be in big trouble with me. And don’t you ever come yelling at me like this ever again! I am your lord, and you are my subject! Whatever I say is what goes, and you only submit. You do this again, and I will have your throat chopped up in three different places! Do you understand me?”

Soayi simply glared at him, the volcano in him still bubbling over.

“GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE, YOU FOOL!” Dreck bellowed, pushing him back. The force was enough to send Soayi tumbling to the ground.

Looking up from the floor, he glared at Dreck, then raised himself, turned, and stormed away.

His fellow elders approached him, the disapproval evident on their faces. “What do you think you’re doing, Soayi?” Sakisor sternly demanded. “You dare to challenge Lord Dreck like that -“

“Out of my way, you idiot!” Soayi snapped, shoving him aside furiously while storming out of the room.

The tension in the atmosphere as perceptible as could be, it was clear this sudden feud was far from over. Unless an apology came through, this animosity would linger in the palace.

And for men who could murder on a whim, that surely meant blood would flow eventually.

Had a kingdom been divided against itself?

Oh boy. I don’t think we were expecting things to get here. But it looks like there’s gonna be some tension between Lord Dreck and Soayi…