Augustus didn't even know when or how he had pulled the slim, finger sized blade in his boot. The time between when Claude had compared the creature in the north to his father and when he had settled the sharp edge on Claude's neck couldn't have been more than a second.
Even the rage hadn't had the full time to bloom, but bloom it did, burning hot in Augustus' belly while his mouth curved into an ugly grimace from his jaw clenching underneath.
"You will not speak of my father in such an insulting way, comparing him to that rabid abomination in the north, if you wish to draw breath again," he hissed.
"And here I thought you had understood your father's nature by now." Claude tsked nonchalantly as if it were not him with a blade to his throat.
Augustus couldn't even appreciate the fact that he had somehow managed to catch the carver without warning. Something cold kissed his own neck while he spoke and it most certainly was not a woman.
