Page 51 of Obsidian Throne
Yet, this soldier had refused.
Was it worth it, I wondered, when his family would pay the price?
That choice wasn’t a luxury Evander had ever been given, not when he was the only buffer between his sadistic father and the people of Bear.
“Were there any witnesses?” Evander asked coolly, and Samu nodded.
“I witnessed his disobedience myself, along with several other soldiers in his regiment.”
My husband’s knuckles went white around the armrests of his chair for a fraction of a second, and his jaw clenched. Still, he kept his impassive eyes fixed straight ahead.
“How do you plead?” he finally asked in that same empty tone.
The man swallowed hard before looking up to meet Evander’s gaze.
“Guilty,” he said, his voice breaking slightly.
Evander sat still as a statue, his features too neutral when he spoke again.
“You understand the punishment for directly defying the orders of your Duke?”
The man squeezed his eyes shut against the cries of protest coming from the woman I assumed was his wife, before giving one solid dip of his head.
Evander returned the gesture, sitting up straighter in his chair.
My eyes drifted over to the roaring hearth and the soldier there holding an iron rod over the flames as Evander's voice filled the room once again.
“The sentencing is as follows: Vasily Lenkov, you are hereby stripped of your title, your estate, and your affiliation with Clan Bear. You will live out the rest of your daysUnclanned.”
He rose from his chair and walked toward the flames, slipping his hand into a thick glove before grabbing the iron rod. The muscles in my stomach clenched, and I sucked in a breath.
He turned back to the soldier with that same cool, unaffected mask he always wore, but I saw the strain in his gray eyes. The slight flare of his nostrils and the stiff set of his shoulders that belied the calm way he spoke.
“Your household can choose to follow you,” Evander continued in a cold voice. “Or depend upon the hospitality of relatives, but they are no longer welcome at your estate and will be stripped of their titles and belongings as well. Do you understand this sentencing as it has been laid out before you?”
The man nodded again, and something inside of me broke at his calm acceptance.
Evander gestured toward Vasily’s wife, and two soldiers stepped forward to restrain her. My eyes snapped back to my husband. He was now standing in front of the soldier, who had sunk to his knees.
With no outward sign of hesitation, Evander raised the brand and pressed it to the man’s forehead.
A sizzling sound filled the air before cries of pain followed. Bile crept up my throat, and I swallowed back the nausea assaulting me.
Theo had once described Unclanning as a fate worse than death. If the branding wasn’t enough, the entire family was also affected--shamed or shunned--no matter their role in the action.
The soldier’s wife was pregnant.
Did they have more children at home? Did their parents live there, too? Who all would suffer because of his disobedience?
I forced my hand back to my side, straightening my back and steeling my features.
Evander turned around without another word. He handed the iron brand to the soldier by the fire once again before facing me.
He took several steps closer, closing the gap between us, and my mind filled with images of his face from this morning. The defeat that had settled over him before he even left the room, the pained expression in his gaze as he kissed me goodbye.
Our eyes met in a silent conversation, a thousand questions filling the space between us in those two heart-stopping seconds.
Would I forgive him for this? Would I understand? Would I accept this?