"Your highness, a guy tried to-"
"Kill him." Canton interrupted coldly, without giving his guard time to complete their sentence.
He kept walking ahead, desperately trying to reach the throne room as fast as possible, not bothering to care about another life he just ended.
The guards outside the room opened the doors wide for King Canton to walk in with a small bow of their heads.
Canton stepped inside and rushed to sit on his throne, dismissing everyone's respectful aknowledge of his presence.
Errot and Oda were standing at the side of the room, their heads lowered and their gaze stuck to the ground. Adan was leaning against the wall next to them, wearing his usual smirk and Elvina was already positioned at her place, next to the king's throne. Her head was high and her smile gave away her impatience and curiousity that was consuming her.
"Bring inside whoever had the guts to waste my time and be fucking quick about it cause my patience is running low" Canton's voice held darkness and the entire sentence he just uttered was dripping venom.
Errot was amazed at Canton's ability to always keep his tone calm when his words could literally be used as daggers.
He then remembered a whole different version of him from this morning when he lost his temper completely and found comfort in violence. It was in that moment that he realised that Canton is actually either not οn his right mind or he's putting a show for his people everyday. Errot would place bets on neither of the two options.
Not even two seconds passed when Canton's guards dragged two handcuffed people inside and dropped them a few feet away from the king, in an abrupt motion.
They looked like a couple, young and not very different from Errot and Oda. They were covered in bruises and their clothes were tore apart and extremely dirty. They looked like they were in pain in every possible place and their eyes were open wide in terror. Errot started feeling very uneasy. He dared to look up and stare at their non-pointed ears only to confirm his worst fear. They were merlots.
King Canton fixed them with his usual icy stare. "I'm listening."
"My King. Those pathetic humans trespassed into Ink Blood and had the nerve to come close to the premises."
The boy raised his head to look at King Canton, ready to defend himself and didn't realise he would regret this decision for the rest of his very short life.
Canton's eyes widened in fury and disbelief and rose to his feet in seconds. He grabbed the boy's hair hard and yanked his head back with extreme force.
"Looking at me in the eye is the second worst thing you could do, Merlot." Canton's calm voice was starting to lose it's peacefulness.
Errot tried to remain unfazed, the fast pace of his heartbeat now betraying him.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know I couldn't- I won't do that again, I swear!" The boy was now looking up and away from the King before him.
"Hm. You see, there is a small problem here, buddy. I happen not to trust creatures that can lie their way out of everything. Especially if those said creatures are mortals. So, let me just make sure that you will, in fact, never look at me again with those pretty little eyes. "
The screams that followed right after would scar Errot's heart for a very long time. Agonizing cries of help echoed through the entire throne room while King Canton was ripping this boy's eyes off their sockets in very slow and careful movements and no one was doing a thing to stop him. Nobody was moving, talking. They were all staring.
The girl that was standing next to them was frozen dead on her spot, her widened eyes glued to the floor while her whole body was trembling uncontrollably.
Oda immediately hooked her hand into Errot's and squeezed it exceptionally hard and Errot felt like his world was crumbling down in pieces, almost losing every ounce of hope he had on his body.
Elvina was staring at the scene in front of her with her arms crossed and an amused smile on her lips.
Adan was chuckling lowly next to them, muttering words that sounded like 'pathetic' or 'ridiculous' but Errot wasn't sure.
When Canton was finished, he let go of the guy's hair and wiped his knife clean on the merlot's already destroyed shirt. He proceeded on passing both of the eyes to one of his men with a nod and the guard dissapeared immediately of their sight.
The boy was now laying face down the concrete, shaking like a leaf, his screams muffled against the stone cold floor, blood now covering a big amount of space.
Canton's sadistic sneer was already on his face while he was staring at what he had done. "Proving that you're truthful isn't that hard now, is it? It only took me a minute. "
The guy replied with silence, his every breath coming out with extreme difficulty.
Canton now turned his attention to the girl whose tears were streaming down her face erratically. "Care to tell me why the hell would you step into Ink Blood without my permission?"
The girl gulped and tried to control her sobs so she could brace herself to speak again. "We are s-so sorry King Canton, we just w-wanted to escape our w-world, please show us some m-mercy, we didn't- we were gonna d-die"
Canton let a small chuckle out at that. "You're gonna die anyway. You are just some dense human beings who thought they could survive in the most dangerous dimension of them all. Let me tell you a secret, Merlot. You can't. Not as long as I am on the throne. "
The girl's tears were endless, her ragged breathing indicating that she knew this wouldn't have a very happy ending.
"Your h-highness, I'm begging you to give us a chance, p-please"
" I'm wondering, love. To what lengths would you go to save your life?"
"I would do anything! Anything y-you want!" The girl cried.
"Well, anything is not enough. " King Canton stated coldly and pulled his gun out. Without giving her time to react, the gun was aimed at her forehead and fired.
He didn't waste any more seconds to do the same thing to the now blind boy, who was already slowly dying .
Errot froze at the sound. Everything around him started spinning a little, his mind now replaying the moment over and over again. He suddenly felt so cold. If he was freezing before, now the skin on his palms had turned to ice. Cold sweat was dripping down his forehead.
Errot knew that death was one whisper away from him and he never felt so scared. He's lived 19 years and he has never felt so frightened, so vulnerable, so numb. Not when he was in Merlot Blood, not even when he crossed the borders and got shot.
The Moccasins had warned them about Canton. But words, no matter how terrifying they are, are still words. Until they become actions. Things you can see, feel and live. That's when you know how much they weigh. How much damage they can actually cause.
He wanted to scream, to cry, to put a bullet into the place where King Canton's heart is supposed to be. But he couldn't. He was an Ink now. And he needed to act like one, even though he was feeling closer to a human being like ever before.
Canton placed his gun back at it's place and stared at the bodies in front of him, his face unreadable and remotely collected.
"They will be of no use to us. Ged rid of them. They are staining my floors." One sentence of him and they were taken away in an instant. Away from this world, probably dumped somewhere far from here, or burned to ashes.
How can someone be so cruel. Errot thought. Why would a person take another person's life away willingly. Without any remorse. No hesitation. Canton just grabbed his gun and pulled the trigger. Not once. Twice. He had another chance to stop. To hold back. But he never did.
King Canton buried three innocent people six feet under in less than 30 minutes. His hands are painted red and small drops of blood are visible on his entire face, reminding him of what he just did. But he doesn't seem to care at all when instead of going crazy out of guilt, he just wipes the blood off his face and fixes the crown on his head.
"I believe we have somewhere to be." He directs his stern words at Elvina.
"I believe we do, my King" she says with a bow of her head and a smirk on her face.
♛♛♛
"Late as ever, I see." Elian gave a big, warm grin at his guests, Flare right on his side.
Canton and Elvina stepped inside the main meeting room of Moccasin Blood, fully armed as always. Canton was wearing his usual cold poker face, looking as ruthless as ever, while Elvina was sporting her sinister smirk, the smirk that warns everyone to take a few steps back.
"Do you know what I just did to someone who dared to look at me in the eye? Left him blind. So, if you want to keep your eyes in tact, better stop staring at me" The calm intensity was back on his voice.
Elian's grin grew wider at that but he averted his gaze, wanting to be respectful. "Typical you, haven't changed one bit. " Small pause. "King Canton." He took a small bow.
"King dickhead." He didn't return the bow.
Elian bit his bottom lip, amused. "You're mad at me."
"I'm a lot of things. Sit down, big guy. " Canton said stiffly and pointed at a chair on the huge table across them, before taking a seat himself.
Elian snorted at Canton's typical rude manners. Flare took a step forwards and opened her mouth to say something but Elian placed a hand in front of her to stop her and sat down as well.
"I have to be honest with you, Canton"
Canton scoffed.
"I don't feel very safe being in the same room with two armed Inks."
"You know very well that I never leave my weapons behind" Canton said, a bit irritated now.
"Yeah, but you usually don't want to kill me." Elian replied with an amused smirk.
"How are you so sure about that?"
"No smirk? No dark humour? You must be extremely frustrated with me right now."
Canton slammed his fist against the table. "Frustrated?!"
Flare took her sword out and directed it at Canton. She looked brave and serious and ready to fight whoever puts her king in danger, even if that person is the wickidest king there is.
Canton snapped his head at Flare and gave her his coldest glare. "So brave of you, threatening me with a sword when you literally put spies on my fucking dimension. "
Flare drew her sword back, carefully.
Elvina was no longer smiling. Instead, she seemed slightly resentful.
"Ah." Elian nodded knowingly. "You know."
"Ah you know" Canton mocked his words, now blantantly annoyed.
Elian tried his hardest not to burst out laughing but he couldn't hold a small chuckle back.
Canton lost the last drop of patience he had inside him and stood up forcefully while pointing his gun at Elian's head.
"Care to share the joke?"
Elian's grin was back on his face, while Flare was already at her fighting position.
Canton snickered but his gun remained still.
"Flare, love, I'll shove that toy of yours so far up inside you, it will reach your fucking halo." Canton's calm voice echoed throughout the room.
Elian laughed some more at that. "Can everyone calm down? Flare drop the sword and King Canton, please let's have a peaceful conversation for once."
Canton didn't move an inch. "I won't have a peaceful conversation with you until you kick your bloody spies out of Ink Blood."
"Will you tell me what are you planning to do with the Teals?" Elian asked .
"Absolutely not. Why are you acting like I owe you shit?"
"Don't you?"
Canton curled his fingers tighter around the trigger. His jaw clenched and his eyes had a dark glint on them.
"Canton." Elvina muttered.
Canton stayed unmoving for a few more seconds. He then rolled his eyes and dropped the gun on the table carelessly. He sat down again and started rubbing at his temple.
"You don't look so well tonight. Is something concerning you? "
"What is he doing on my castle, Elian?" Canton was looking down, his features cold.
There was a pause.
"Hm? Who is doing what on your castle?"
"Don't play stupid" his tone brusque.
"Stupid, is one thing I never play"
"Errot White. Speak."
King Elian looked very puzzled.
It was Elvina's turn now to roll her eyes. "What do you know about a guy called Errot White, Elian? "
"That name seems foreign to me." He looked at Flare. "Any idea of who Errot White is, darling?"
"I'm afraid no, your highness"
Elian turned his attention back to Canton and Elvina. "I'm afraid no, your highness." He grinned. "Our memory is kind of dusty right now. Maybe if you pay me back, I could try to recall a few things about this person. "
"Listen, Elian" Canton said, a dark tone hidden under his voice. He leaned forward until he was a few inches away from Elian's face. He looked at him dead in the eye, his gaze focused and intense.
"I'm listening." He retorted against Canton's face, not pulling back. His eyes unwillingly stuck at Canton's.
"I need. " He breathed. His fingers started trailing circles against Elian's chest "I need this information. And you." He forcefully grabbed the shirt and pulled Elian closer to him, their lips almost touching now. "Are gonna give it to me. Whether you like it." He grabbed Elian's chin with his other hand and forced his head to the side. He leaned in to his ear . "Or not." . He whispered and immediately pushed him back and away from him.
Elian gulped, his cheeks now oddly hot. He fixed his shirt and cleared his throat.
"Flare, Elvina. Would you please leave us. I need to talk to the king in private"
Canton smirked at that. Elvina looked at him with an identical smirk on her face and walked out of the room without saying a word.
Flare was looking at Elian suspiciously. "Sir, are you-"
"I'm positive. Go. " Elian interrupted her.
Flare nodded and stepped out as well, clossing the door behind her.
Suddenly, silence filled the room. No one was talking for a while, Elian's head was hanging low.
"Well?" Canton asked.
"You're a sick bastard."
"I've been told." Amusement was evident on his voice.
"You should literally go to hell." Elian said and walked towards Canton, his breathing getting faster every passing second.
"Haven't you heard?" Canton gripped at the back of Elian's hair. "I am hell."
♛