Ted looked at his cultists.
He had thought of them as a pathetic bunch all this time, as they were so dependent on outside authorities. This moment underlined the reasons he had for seeing them unfavorably. They were scared after witnessing one murder, trembling when he made the mistake of looking them in the eyes, and after a few days of only a handful of rice per mouth they claimed that they were starving.
Indeed, their leader was eons away from them, standing tall even though he had not eaten at all today if he remembered correctly. He had witnessed and committed such a great number of murders without flinching that the commoner's reaction, shying away because of a vision of blood, felt absurd, it was an overreaction in his eyes.
Perhaps he had to become soft for a moment.
"You can always dip into my personal reserves if you are hungry," Ted said, every syllable dripping honey. "Just give me a heads up and I will fetch something to energize you."
