Silence engulfed the throne room after the scribe and Royal Black Guard departed by order of the King. Rehny stood beneath the steps leading to the throne and Vayin Vigon looked down on him from his position beside the red throne. The King stood with his hands to his sides and his ornate wide-sleeved robes of black decorated with purple lines along the sleeves made him look like a tall mythological harbinger of death. Rehny swallowed audibly but he did not look away neither did he picture red.

The whistle that had emerged from within him had been like a beckoning call into nothingness, a soft shove on the back whilst upon the edge of a cliff. It had urged him forward into the maw of the beast, it had soothed his turmoil with the promise of eternal silence. It had offered freedom from the known in exchange for one last squeeze of his will, one last effort to let go. Rehny had seized it, bringing down the mental block that hid his thoughts from Vayin Vigon. Rehny turned his head from Vayin Vigon and walked towards one of the large windows lining the throne room.

"Do not walk away from me." King Vayin commanded.

"Oh shut up, I wish to see the sky one last time." Rehny said and peered out of the window and into the daytime sky. He could immediately feel Vayin Vigon's presence behind him, a looming shadow of death. Rehny did not care. The window looked out upon a bed of flowers with petals ranging in different colors arranged so as to spell a single word, Ambition. Rehny never understood why Binorians worshipped the inordinate desire to obtain that which was above them, what would they do after they had it all?

"You dare speak to me so?" Vayin's voice from behind him was void of emotion and Rehny knew that meant he was inching closer to his end. Even in armor he knew he did not stand a chance against the one with the Jojoh Meena. He had better luck killing a Rankf Leviathan with his bare hands than landing a hit on Vayin. Rehny sighed and observed a brick red bird with blue tipped wings flying in the distance. The bird's flight was without order, never completing a circle and never moving in a straight line. Binoria frowns upon disorder yet Rehny could see the beauty in the creature's flight. "Your insolence knows no bounds Commander, you must pay for this."

"Don't you ever get tired of it all Vayin?" Rehny asked. "The uptight attitude? The rule of fear? Having everyone cower before you for your very will determines whether they'll live or die?"

To Rehny's surprise the King moved to stand beside him, his grey eyes peering out the window and his head titled up in thought with his hands clasped behind him. "Do you fear me Rehny?" King Vayin asked and Rehny could feel the layers beneath the question.

"I do but I just don't care." Rehny said. "When you stop caring about the fear that drives you to act in a certain way you cease caring about the outcomes said fear brings and are hence free to act differently."

"You indeed don't care, referring to me by my name alone without title shows carelessness, I ought to gouge out your eyes and tongue."

"At least leave my cock intact, our cocks are the only thing you and I have in common when it comes to your wife." Rehny said then paused. "Vayin." He added with a smile.

The two men turned at the same time and glared into each other's eyes. Rehny's smile faded as Vayin's face broke into a smile. "Commander of the Legions, I was right to pick you. How many battles have we fought? Fifty? We won every one of them, yet we never talked about why you charged so whole heartedly into the Talisi ranks alone that first time and caught my eye. Was it love?"

"I've never disclosed the real reason I did so, what makes you think I will disclose it to you now?"

Vayin turned back to staring out of the window. "I first saw her when she came to petition before me over her father's land. It appeared Highlord Shama wanted to build a brothel to the east where her father's land was and had used clandestine means to acquire said land." Rehny's gauntleted fingers curled into fists. "Lamical was beautiful but what's beauty to a King? I saw within her and I recognized the stain of love.

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"It is without order, love, it moves as it wants without logic, it devours like a flame and spreads like a plague. She did not admire me upon the throne as her peers did, she had no interest in me neither did she marvel at my splendor. All she cared about was her father's stupid land and you." Vayin scoffed. "I had to have her, I had to rectify the flaw within her and transform her anew. I am a King after all, as you said, my will defines the thin line between life and death. She couldn't say no." Vayin turned to Rehny. A tear streaked down Rehny's cheek. "And still, after all this time you still cloud her thoughts. The mere sight of you sends her into a spiral of repetitive thoughts that are all centered on you. She knows that I see them so she masks them under hate, forcing herself to believe that she loathes you."

Vayin paused for effect and Rehny's tear stained eyes stayed glued on him. "You shed tears over lost love but it's not lost, it's just blanketed under false hate." Vayin smiled, his smile touching the edges of his grey eyes. Rehny understood it now. The way Lamical had out rightly avoided him during the early years of her marriage, hoping that him staying out of sight would keep him out of her mind. The way she'd been summoning him of late, the topic being her children but beneath it there was more, she was battling the same thing he was and losing the battle just the same. But she'd still made her choice. She'd still chosen Vayin over him, King or not.

"I can give her back to you." King Vayin said while tilting his head slightly to the left, his eyes on Rehny. "One last battle Rehny. I will forgive your insubordination, ride with me under the hundred banners one last time. The Kolotian is heading to the Ganidan plain from what my scouts say, he is the champion of a God, Rehny, that spells a problem for Binoria, a problem that ought to be rectified.

"Sure, Meena is stronger, she gathers more worship but the insane Kolotian has tamed a Telinete, word will spread upon the realm and worshippers who hate Binoria will throng to him and his God, strengthening them. Join me Commander, pick up your black sword for one last battle. We will bring up dust in the wake of the hundred legions in pursuit of the boy and we shall cut off this wounded limb before it festers." Vayin said, his lips pressed together into a thin line. "In return I will appoint you as Highlord of the South Local after the battle, and I shall appoint Lamical to be your right hand there." "She is the queen." Rehny said.

"She still loves you." Vayin replied. "She will remain queen but her new position would put her close to you and in a position to help the South Local. It's a win for me if it means you charge ahead of me one last time."

Rehny grunted. He'd stood here knowing he was going to die but instead he'd been offered a way out. Out of carrying the mantle of Commander which he hates, a chance to escape Binoria and go south to a position of prestige that will guarantee easy living. And above it all Lamical was to accompany him, it was clear that what the King had easily taken from him had easily been offered back. Did Lamical know that her husband was trading her for favors? Rehny wondered why she'd turned down someone who worshipped her over someone who barely saw her as anything other than a tool.

A tool. That is what Vayin saw him as too, the smile on Vayin's face as he regarded him irked Rehny. This was a man who was used to getting what he wanted, he'd taken what he loved from him, causing him a pain he'd never known existed only for him to turn around and offer a way out of it all just as easily. Rehny knew that despite the way out he and Lamical would never go back to how they once were, there was a finality to how they felt about each other now due to all the underlying circumstances that had erroded what was once pure. Is there another way out? The whistling tune in his mind emerged once more, assuring Rehny of a void where love lies dead.

Rehny went down on one knee with a gauntleted fist pressed to the ground before Vayin Vigon with his head bowed, in his mind was a pure whistling tune that accompanied no thought. The King smiled at his subservience and opened his mouth to speak. Rehny lunged, centralizing his strength into his knees and feet, springing forth in a dash of speed. His gauntleted fist moved in tandem with him, connecting with King Vayin Vigon's chin and sending the blessed one flying through the air under the impact. Rehny did not have time to react to the surprise of having dealt the King a blow, before the King hit the ground Rehny dived through the window, breaking glass and landing on the flowers beneath in a roll. Rehny got up and started running while whistling a tune he did not know from where he'd heard.