NOVGO.NET Chapter 56: A Punishment Worse Than Death
Chapter 56: A Punishment Worse Than Death
Alaric:
I had never seen Reign this out of control. Not when Argentis had insulted him during their first encounter, not when she had walked away from him in front of everyone, and not even when she had repeatedly thrown his attempts to provoke her back into his face.
I knew my friend well enough to recognize the difference between anger and something far more dangerous, and what I had seen in his eyes - after news of Argentis being thrown across the combat hall reached him - belonged firmly in the second category.
I didn’t know what had changed, but I knew one thing with absolute certainty - Liliana’s day was about to end much worse than Argentis’s.
I followed Reign down toward the basement of Midnight Tower without saying a word, my footsteps echoing against the stone staircase. The basement had two levels, both belonging almost entirely to the five of us. Reign, Esme, Kairo, Lorien, and me. It wasn’t a place ordinary students or staff entered. Even most nobles knew better than to wander into our territory without permission.
This basement served as our private lounge, training area, meeting room, and, when necessary, the place where Reign dealt with people who had crossed a line. His punishments had earned their reputation long before I had ever seen him administer one, but despite his ruthlessness, there had always been a line he didn’t cross. He didn’t needlessly torture people. He didn’t physically hurt people during punishments. He simply made sure they regretted whatever mistake they had made. Which was exactly why I couldn’t understand the fury rolling off him now.
Liliana had been wrong. There was no excuse for what she had done. Attacking Argentis with magic after the combat round was over was reckless and stupid, especially when Argentis’s powers were sealed. But Reign was behaving as though Liliana had committed some unforgivable crime.
When we reached the first basement floor, the massive doors opened into the private hall we used as a living room, and I immediately saw Liliana standing near the center with Kairo and several students from noble families scattered around the couches. They had clearly been waiting for Reign.
The moment Liliana saw him, relief washed across her face. She rushed toward him without hesitation, her injured pride apparently outweighing whatever instinct should have warned her to stay away.
"Reign!" she cried, reaching for his arm. "You have no idea what that mad girl did to me. She humiliated me in front of everyone, and then she-"
She didn’t finish.
Reign’s hand shot forward and caught her by the throat. And in the next second, her back slammed against the nearest wall with enough force to make several people gasp.
The room froze. I froze. Even Kairo, who had been leaning lazily against the back of a couch, lifted his head with mild interest.
Reign’s fingers tightened around Liliana’s throat, lifting her just enough that her feet barely remained steady against the floor. Her hands immediately flew to his wrist as she struggled to breathe.
I had seen Reign furious countless times. I had seen him threaten people who had challenged our authority. But I had never seen him put his hands on someone like this.
"Reign," I said carefully. I didn’t move closer. Not because I didn’t care about Liliana dying by his hands, but because I knew better than to step directly between Reign and someone while his wolf was this close to the surface. "Let her go. You are going to hurt her."
His eyes flicked toward me for barely a second, and what I saw there made me stop breathing for a moment. There was something almost feral in his expression.
Liliana kept struggling, but against Reign’s strength, it was pointless. Her face was beginning to redden, while tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as she desperately tried to pull his hand away.
Kairo remained where he was, his arms loosely folded as though he was watching an unexpectedly entertaining show. I knew him well enough to understand that even if Reign accidentally killed Liliana right there, Kairo probably wouldn’t blink. He would simply ask what happened afterward and help clean up the consequences. That was one of the reasons the five of us worked so well together. None of us had particularly delicate morals.
Fortunately, Reign finally loosened his grip.
Liliana dropped to the floor, immediately clutching her throat as she coughed and gasped for air. Nobody moved to help her. She eventually managed to sit upright, her eyes filled with tears, and looked up at Reign with a mixture of fear and disbelief.
"What... is wrong with you?" she demanded between breaths. "I... didn’t do anything... to deserve that!"
Reign slowly approached her. He crouched in front of her and caught her chin between his fingers, forcing her to look directly into his eyes.
"You attacked the Crown Princess," he said, his voice frighteningly calm now. The entire room became even quieter. "You used magic against her after the combat match was already over. You knew her powers were sealed, and you still did it."
Liliana’s lips trembled. "She attacked me first."
"No." Reign’s answer was immediate. "She defeated you in a regulated combat match. You attacked her afterward."
Liliana opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Reign released her chin only to straighten, his gaze sweeping across everyone in the room. "Listen carefully, because I’m not repeating this." His voice carried through the basement. "I may have declared war on Argentis." His eyes hardened at the admission. "I may intend to make her understand exactly how much she still has to learn about this world. I may even want her to bow before me one day." There was a faint, dangerous smile on his lips. "But none of that means any of you are permitted to hurt her."
My brows drew together. That was the part I hadn’t expected. Reign had spent weeks making it clear that he wanted Argentis humbled. He wanted her dependent on us. He wanted to break her arrogance and force her to understand that she couldn’t survive here alone. But apparently, even in the middle of all that, there were boundaries he wasn’t willing to let anyone else cross.
He turned his gaze toward the nobles gathered around the room, and every single one of them straightened.
"She’s a royal," he said. "She’s the last living member of House Argentis. She’s one of the five people who will stand at the center of this realm’s future whether any of you like it or not."
His gaze finally returned to Liliana as he added. "You don’t have to like her. You don’t have to befriend her. You don’t even have to respect her personally." His voice dropped colder. "But you will respect her position."
Nobody dared interrupt.
"The punishment for harming a royal," Reign continued, "isn’t detention. It isn’t losing credit points. It isn’t an apology, or even an expulsion from the academy." His eyes swept over the room once more before settling on Liliana. "It’s worse than death."