Death of the Traitors

A week passed. Every night, Kassandra would whisper ideas into Eivarn's brain. 'Duel him,' 'give them a visit,' 'pay a guard.' They each were to kill Garek and enslave his wife. Every night, she whispered ideas to take root in his mind, and he would tell himself he wouldn't do them. He'd tell himself how much she still loved him, despite her not telling him the night of the parade. He tried his best to resist the temptress's foul words. But he couldn't resist for long.

The two were getting dressed for bed. In other words, finding comfortable garments so that Kassandra would have a harder time fucking him. She kept up with her plan to end his suffering.

"Duel him. If he refuses, he'll be publicly shamed. If he accepts, I'll make sure you win no matter what. You'll take everything he owns, so your wife, and I'll take care of any debt he has. You can do what you want with her. Use her everyday, or simply forget her. Maybe you'd want revenge for her cheating on you."

"She isn't cheating. She's forced to do that."

"I'd say otherwise. I've seen their episodes. I've been shown what they do. She loves his cock, and might be starting to love him."

"No, she's... she's not. I know she'll leave him whenever she has the chance."

"Then why not make it faster? Duel him, I promise you'll win. Then you can be with that harlot of a wife, and she'll only be loyal to you. We'll rule this half of our kingdom together. I know you'd love that."

He was silent. He was entertaining the idea, weighing the consequences. If he won, he'd have killed Garek and gotten his wife back. If he lost, then who knows what could happen. If Garek simply refuses, he'll be punished even more. But then what would become of his wife?

He thought about it all night, and almost got no sleep. He ran simulations in his mind, seeing how he could win. He was smaller than Garek, but much faster. And he'd have whatever advantage the High Priestess gave him.

The bright yellow sun rose and birds outside started to chirp. He turned and kissed Kassandra's neck, and shaking her body to wake her up. "Hey, I've made a decision." He smiled.

Kassandra smiled widely. This was one of the first times he kissed her of his own free will. "A decision on what? And what's the time?" She sat up and yawned.

"About 6 in the morning. And I want to duel him. Prove humans are stronger than Osthyrians and get my wife back."

"Took you long enough to agree to it. I'll make sure you win. You'll get loads of training, and I'll get you better gear than him." She explained.

He sighed in relief. He'd have protection and better weapons to choose from, while Garek would have standard arena equipment. He loved that idea. But he had more steps to his plan than she anticipated. He had more than she thought.

After he won the battle and gotten his wife back, he'd kill the children. He didn't want to raise half-humans, he wanted children that were his own. Next, he'd wait until night. He'd slit Kassandra's throat. She served her purpose of getting him to that point, he felt. It was time to get rid of her.

Then he'd make his escape. He thought about making a rope from the blankets and climbing down the castle. That might work, and then they'd just have to find a beach. They'd find a ship and sail back home as the war's only survivors.

"Your training will start the day after tomorrow. What weapons do you use?" Kassandra asked.

"An axe and a shield. I'm good with them, but its been a while since I've used them." He explained.

"I see then. But today, let's pleasure each other more. But not with sex, your ass must still be sore. Maybe we can have a day out. Maybe we can be real lovers, have something more than what you'd ever had with your wife."

Eivarn blushed. "Oh, well... sure, Kassandra. We can go on a date today."

"That's what you call it, a date? I've had dates before, one of my least favorite foods." She laughed. Today would be perfect for her.

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Two months passed. The battle between Eivarn and Garek was declared, and they spent the time training. Garek went on a few more dates with Magnhild, and they both thought Eivarn was doing this to get all three of them to escape. They were wrong.

One night, after two hours of fucking, Magnhild finally decided to cuddle up on Garek. They had sheets now, so it wasn't for warmth. Instead, she started to get feelings for him. He treated her in a way Eivarn never did.

The day before the match, Kassandra abs Garek Laos together. "Now, the house wants it to be fair. You both received the same time training, and will have armor and weapons that match your house... but neither of you have a house, so we gave you some of that berserker armor we took from one of your captains." He saw the armor earlier today. It was Captain Ragnar's, a good friend of his. He'd wear it proudly.

The armor itself was a mix of steel and bear skin. It had a long metal antlers on the hood. The hood was the head of the bear Ragnar killed when he was just sixteen. The bottom half was mostly metal, with some fur mixed in, while the top half was mostly fur with metal mixed in. It was perfect for him. It displayed his homeland perfectly.

He also had a round shield and a nice axe to use, which were his favorite weapons. The shield was steel, with a covering of wolf fur. The axe was all metal so it was harder to break.

"Now, the thing that will give you an edge in the fight. A spell, to make your skin harder than our adamantium." She kissed Eivarn's cheek before working her hands and chanting. Then, he felt a power surge into him. It travelled through his body before settling down.

"Thank you, mistress. I'll need it." He smiled and kissed her cheek. He grew to like Kassandra. Not too much, but more as a friend. With benefits.

Hours passed and Garek found himself at a gate, about to enter the arena. He didn't have a house either, so he was given armor of pure chitin, fashioned from the shells large bugs and animals. His helmet had fierce mandibles, and his back had spines going down it. He carried a sword and a dagger, made from the titanium.

The arena was flat, with a covering of sand. That way, the audience could see what's going on, and the warriors would know exactly where the other is. The sun was beating down hard today, and to both of their surprises, Magnhild was trapped in a cage in the middle. They knew what they were fighting for, and Eivarn was hell-bent in claiming his prize. Garek still thought that Eivarn had a plan. He did, one that ended in the death of the other.

A horn was sounded and the gates opened. They both ran out directly towards the other. Garek didn't attack, just ran. He thought something would happen.

Something did happen. Eivarn lifted his axe high above his head, and brought it down on the insignificant bastard. It cut right through his shell and split his head open. The last thing Garek saw was the burning rage in Eivarn's eyes. The eyes of a raider who's lost everything. Garek was dead, killed by a human.

The crowd gasped, amazed at how fast it was. Eivarn didn't need the spell, but it would have helped if he didn't end it so soon.

He was forced out of the arena, and his wife was brought to his room. She was nude, waiting for him. She was in shock, too. The man who she started living more than her own husband was murdered in front of her. She didn't know what to think, much less what to say. Should she be mad? Happy that she was reunited? Sad? She was just confused.

The doors opened, and Kassandra stepped through them, along with Eivarn.

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Eivarn glared at her. "You. I think I'm the luckiest man alive, I just saw what you and that beast did last night." He stormed towards Magnhild, eyes still shining with an unquenchable thunder.

"You don't understand, I was forced to, and so was he!" She tried to explain things, but she wasn't showing the whole picture.

"Then why, why were you rubbing up on him like that? You were never like that with me, all the three years we've been together! And you spend three months alone with our enemy?" He got to her, then slapped her in the face, sending her in the air and on the floor.

"Y-you don't... you don't understand." She noticed he wasn't listening. "Fuck you!" She yelled as she got up. She prepared to throw a punch, but he was faster. He punched her gut, then pushed her against a wall. He headbutt her, then threw her on the ground.

"Your nothing but a cheating whore, you hear me!" He screamed.

"He treated me better than... than you ever did!" She spat blood on the floor.

"Better? We had just about everything, and I gave you all my love!" He kicked her in the side.

"What love? In bed... you were so, so boring!" She teased.

This only infuriated him more. "You didn't love me! You never came up to tease me, you never kissed or loved me outside of the bed and in public!" He yelled.

She sighed. They both were right. She barely talked to him other than a 'good morning,' 'I love you,' and a 'goodnight, sweet dreams.' She'd ignore it when he tried to talk to her. But he was never good in bed. The only positions he knew was missionary and rider (cowgirl). It's amazing how they even ended up together.

"Just kill me. Kill me and our children!" She yelled again.

"Our children? Look at it, these things aren't ours! I think they're dead already anyways, but to make sure, Kassandra! Cast one of those abortion spells!"

Kassandra just wanted to sit back and watch, but she cast the spell. And in the blink of an eye, Magnhild was slim and fit again, not bloated from having children. Then Eivarn took her by her shoulder and punched her gut again. And another time. He hated her, wanted to kill her.

All the while, Kassandra was simply watching them. Former lovers, now fighting. Brought from the top of their old works to the bottom of this new one. She loved it. And she had plans for Eivarn, to use him to help her take complete control over the kingdom, and not only rule half of it. That is, if Eivarn survived this fight.

He threw her on the bed, and she threw a pillow at him as he approached. It hit him, but he threw it to the side. He took her ankle and dragged her to him. Then he picked her up by her arms and punched her face, breaking her nose. He then went to the balcony and held her over it, prepared to drop her. To send her flying.

He looked up at her, into her beautiful, blue eyes. He saw the loving woman he married three years ago in them, the warrior he was infatuated by. The one who killed ten Guild soldiers by herself, the one who saved him from a re-education camp and drove the Angelist Guild off the Östrickland island.

She looked into his eyes, and saw the man he used to be. He was a helpless prince, desperate to be saved. Weak, but smart. Without him, she wouldn't have had a reason to drive out the Guild. He was the one she fought for all those years ago. Would he really kill her?

He stepped on the railing of the balcony and brought her closer to him. He kissed her lips, ready to cry and forgive her for all the abuse in the past few minutes. She had another idea.

She was able to step back on after they kissed. And she pushed him off, sending Eivarn off the side. Kassandra saw and ran towards her.

"You worthless whore, you'll die!" She picked Magnhild up easily and threw her off. Magnhild died then.

Kassandra sent two guards to see if Eivarn was still alive. If so, then to heal him quickly. Thankfully, he was alive. Two mages fixed his wounds with strange Magic's, then sent him up to see his real lover, Kassandra, a few hours later.

He didn't say hi to Kassandra. He simply walked to the bloodstained bed and pained down. Today was long, and the past few hours were rough. Kassandra got in bed with him and cuddled up next to him, bringing his head towards her chest.

"I love you." She whispered into his ear.

He didn't respond.