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This was a room whereit with pleasure, clai some of the cruelty of the past

I lay her over a sht and size of a korabi warrior She fits on it easily

“Krush?”

“Quiet,” I order gently, running h her hair

I want to feel what it is like to take a prisoner and hurt them I will not hurt her Not the way my father did But I can play at it I can drink in some of the experience

I knoas sick I know the courtiers and nobles who served him were similarly sick I am surrounded by those who condoned, and in all likelihood, enjoyed what ned to induce agony, andbeing if one siination

“Sire…”

“Yes?”

“Your eyes," she ss “They’ve gone so dark”

"There can be pleasure in the dark” I runher Petting her I enjoy feeling the way she trembles and quivers when I touch her Some of it is fear But more of it is anticipation

She likes this She likes er for her This is the last thing I expected when I saw her dumped at eance

This human has become a distraction to be sure, but a welcome one

I take the blade which my father once used to peel skin from his victims It is impeccably clean, and an unholy kind of sharp I lift it up and I hold it where she can see it

“Are you trying to scare me?”