The parents seem dismayed by the actions of their daughter, her mother watching her with poorly repressed horror while her father glares with disapproval. Do they expect her to face death with quiet dignity?

I can understand the romance of going out with pride. When Crowley Cain snatched me from the King’s Road and sacrificed me in vain, I refused to let him see my pain and regret. But, in the end, I broke before my divine father.

It isn’t easy to remain stoic when facing the great ending. Rey seems entirely incapable of it, but her reckless temper is leagues better than the fearful cowering of who I assume is her sister. She is the greatest source of fear in the house and the smell is so pungent it’s giving me a headache. A design flaw, perhaps.

“Rey, was it?” I step toward the fiery woman. “Allow me to explain why we’re all here. It’s because he—” I point an accusing finger at Lord Teppin. “—couldn’t mind his own fucking business and was too stubborn to run when I gave him the chance.”

“Run? What is she talking about?” I watch the young woman’s explosive anger shift targets from me to her father. Even the shivering daughter looks up at my words, eyes wide with potent emotion. The matriarch of the family turns away. I guess only the children were kept in the dark.

“Go on,” I prod the silent lord. “Tell her how you ignored the opportunity to protect your family and your people.”

“Answer the question, you limp-dicked, paper-pushing pussy!”

“Quiet!” her father snaps, his carefully controlled expression finally breaking.

“What. Does. She. Mean?”

Realizing that his daughter won’t leave the topic alone, he begrudgingly answers. “Two days ago, I received a letter from Lady Tome.” His eyes briefly flick to me. “It demanded I flee from my home and should I refuse, I would be confronted with her ire with me for charging her for her crimes.”

“…you son of a shit-licking dumbass!”

“I am your father! You will show me the respect I am due!”

“Oh, yes. My respectful father that just got us all killed,” she sneers back, not at all intimidated by his roar. “The people who killed a guildmaster inside his guild announce their intentions to attack you and what do you do? You sit there and take it. Worse, you drag us into the line of fire, fucking literally.”

“I brought you home, where I could protect you,” he hisses through grit teeth.

“What a wonderful job. Do we look safe?”

That takes some of the fire out of his temper, the weight of impending death banking his anger. Their little show fills me with warmth. It shows me that I did the right thing. Any sensible person would have left the house and spared the foolish knights outside.

I made have killed them, but this tragedy is as much the lord’s fault as mine. Mercy can only go so far and I’m not a horrible monster. Since I’m not, I should deliver this family from their pit of despair.

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“I’m not going to kill you.”

Immediately, I have the whole room’s attention. Even Yulia looks shocked. What does she take me for? “If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have bothered to send a warning,” I explain slowly.

“Then what was all this for?” the angry nobleman demands.

“To make a point,” I say, holding back a chuckle at their incredulous expressions. “I wanted you to capitulate so the city would understand how dangerous I am without having to shed blood. Yu—Lady James said it. We want to handle this mess peacefully. Preferably quietly too. You’re the ones that made this more complicated than it needs to be.”

“Are you trying to tell me…” Lord Teppin pauses to draw in a steadying breath, clearly struggling to control himself. “That you barged into my home and slaughtered valorous men…for nothing?”

Yulia opens her mouth but it’s my turn to put a hand on her shoulder to quiet her. I pull her behind me without bothering to check how she reacts, more than a little fed up with her so-called negotiating.

“No, not for nothing. Your orders for the guard to detain me emboldened the guilds. Who is going to negotiate with a wanted woman? They think they can ignore the debts they owe because the woman sent to collect them is going to be dragged to the royal dungeons. Do you know what that means?”

The noble stiffens as I approach him, but he refuses to flinch or turn away. I smirk as I grab him by the chin, forcing him to meet my gaze. As I thought, he can see a portion of the massacre from the windows.

“If they aren’t afraid of me, if they sense even the smallest hint of weakness, we might have to do that—” I point to the mess outside. “—to the entire city. Maybe to the entire kingdom. I don’t know what you think of me, but I really don’t want that to happen. Even if that means I have to kill a couple dozen knights, defy the crown, and embarrass a lord or two. But make no mistake, Lord Teppin. You’re the one that forced me to do this.”

I throw him backward, making the proud man stumble. My next target is the loud and brash Rey. Unlike her father, she does flinch, taking a large step backward. “My hope was that seeing a noble, the figurehead of the city, and the symbol of the crown’s authority, run with his tail tucked behind his legs would give the guilds pause. If they stop, they may think, and it’ll only take a little thought for them to realize how stupid it is to fight either me or the north, let alone both of us.

“I also needed a place to stay, since your order resulted in me losing my home. The Golden Feathers is comfortable, but I’m not used to sharing a space with strangers and I’m far beyond staying in a tiny hovel. Luckily, you own the only estate in the city. A happy coincidence. Everything would have worked out perfectly fine if you left.”

“If I left,” Lord Teppin hisses behind me as I turn away, “then we would be finished as a noble family. You blatantly flaunt your disregard for the king’s law and expect me to do nothing about it? If I faltered, Sebastian would have our peerage in an instant. The crown has always wanted more power over Quest. You worry about showing weakness? If a sycophant that doesn’t understand the city usurps our position, this city will burn.”

I do him the same insult he paid me at the start of the conversation and ignore him. “Do you agree?” I ask Rey.

“…he may be a dumb bastard, but he has a point.”

“Does he? I think he’s been spotting his self-important horseshit for so long, you don’t know the truth. You think someone like him isn’t replaceable?” I grin at the indecision in her gaze. “I bet he did this all for himself. Make himself look good. Show the hunters he’s not a coward, right? Cause that’s how they see him. How you se him. Maybe his wife too. All women? I don’t see any young children or mistresses around. Maybe he needs a big win to get it up again.”

“How dare you!” the incensed man shouts. I keep ignoring him.

“Whatever his reason, you and your family are trapped in this house with, as you said, a crazy, lavender-eyed bitch. And now said bitch has to decide what to do with you.”

“You can let us go,” Rey bravely states. “Since you’re apparently peaceful.”

“I could…but no. What does letting you all waltz out of this house say? That I’m soft to those who go against me. That even beaten and bloody, a man they have no respect for managed to negotiate his way out of my grasp. No, you’re all staying put. Any other ideas?”

The chatty woman surprisingly holds her tongue, her expression sour.

A wicked grin curls the ends of my lips as a fun idea comes to me. “Then I suppose I’ll have to think of something.”