Men who play games of war and soldiers born from circumstance...
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Kso’ppghiel rises from the bed, walking as far away from it as the chain will allow. “I would prefer to be beaten all day than stay in this room a second longer. So for that you will have your obedience. At least I will be conscious through it, unless you plan to deprave me as well.” He doesn’t bother to hide the anger in his voice as the Captain walks over to the chain’s source, speaking the quiet stream of words to release it he was given by the guard at the door. “Taking consciousness from you would defeat the entire point” Bal’thial says flatly as he straightens with his clawed hands wrapped around the freed chain’s end. “She wants you to feel it, Harbinger and feel it you will.” Sliding his hand up, he tosses the tether at the man before him, pupiless white eyes never leaving his mismatched gaze as Kso’ppghiel catches the chain that had been thrown. “Move.” The Blonde smirks as he walks towards the door. “What? You do not plan on dragging me through the halls by my neck? I am somewhat disappointed what is left of my dignity will not be shattered a little more. It is, of course, my fault that I cannot force myself to lust after a woman who holds me captive as a slave, especially when I have never lusted after anyone. That certainly deserves discipline.” The Captain comes up behind the blonde as the doors open before them, shoving him a little roughly into the hall. Kso’ppghiel stumbles forward, managing to gain his footing moments before Bal’thial shoves him hard again towards the stairwell waiting far beyond. “Who are you to speak of discipline?” he says coolly as he plants his hand in the center of the other man’s back and shoves him once more. “You who claim you have no desires beyond the kill yet allow your body to be manipulated while you sleep.” Pupiless white eyes shoot back angrily and the tall Captain only smirks before a final push sends him toppling backwards and spilling against the cold stone floor. The blonde has just enough time to begin propping himself up on his elbows before he finds the white haired man above him and clawed fingers fly down soon after to wrap around the heavy chain before Bal’thial yanks his body up. “You have no dignity left dog, you are a chained plaything and nothing more. Get that through your thickened head.” The metal of the Harbinger’s mask is suddenly shoved millimeters from Bal’thial’s face, angry sarcasm dripping in his voice. “Yes, because I have total and complete control over my subconscious while I am knocked out, so therefore again it must be my fault. I allowed it? How, by default? By your definition because I cannot remove this contraption off my face I must be allowing its placement there. Because I cannot run away without getting taken down I must want to be here.” He grabs the chain and rips it out of the white haired man’s hands. “If you want a dog, you will find me a rabid wolf.” The tall Captain brings his hands together before suddenly striking out to send Kso’ppghiel crashing sideways towards the floor. “Even rabid, you are an idiot.” He says through lightly gritted teeth as metal enchantments and long winding chain alike clink loudly against cold marble. Straightening immediately after, he leans swiftly down to retrieve the chain before yanking back hard and forcing the fallen man up onto his knees, fiery white eyes rising to meet similar blue and green. “and your idiocy will never earn you the freedom you seek” Kso’ppghiel has to scramble to keep from being dragged by his throat as Bal’thial turns and begins pulling him down the stairwell to the marble hallway leading to the Captain’s room. The blonde stumbles behind, cursing at the man in front until they reach the heavy doors to his own chamber only to be thrown inside once it opens, falling forward to the bed he’s tossed at. The door behind them slams close just as the Harbinger rights himself and turns to face the one coming at him only to stop all movement when he notices the blood on the far wall. A spiraling horn is gripped soon after and the white haired man wrenches Kso’ppghiel’s attentions back. “Lost your steam before I have even begun?” the Captain smirks before shoving the blonde back. “For a ‘rabid wolf’ you certainly do not put up much of a fight.” Kso’ppghiel falls against the mattress once more, immediately bringing his legs up and kicking out into Bal’thial’s abdomen to distract him long enough to stand. He moves up behind the Captain quickly, grabbing a length of chain and wrapping it around the taller man’s throat to pull tightly and bring his head up. He turns them in the direction of the blood and his free hand grabs onto the wrist attempting to pull the chain away, white eyes traveling over split and bloodied knuckles. “It seems your anger… is misplaced, Captain.” Wrenching his hand free of the other man’s grip, Bal’thial reaches swiftly over and latches onto a large chunk of white blonde hair. Yanking hard, he sends Kso’ppghiel crashing down, no time allowed to free himself of the connecting chain during the movement. Both men spill against the waiting cold floor, long braided plaits and metal enchantments tangling around them as they fall. “Keep your irrelevant observations to yourself!” He practically sneers before reaching up to unwind the string of metal from his neck, tossing it at the Harbinger while working to right himself. “Where my anger is or is not directed is nobody’s business but my own.” Both men pull away only to find some of the various charms caught in Bal’thial’s hair. Kso’ppghiel wrenches back hard, yanking the Captain forward by a painful tug. “This obviously does not hurt me, so you will have to remove the mask or cut off your hair. Or is that my fault as well and just another thing you plan to punish me for?” He grasps onto white plaits, pulling the taller man forward. Clawed fingers fly up to the base of his own hair and latches down in an unsuccessful attempt to pull himself back, no indication of pain showing in anger filled green and blue eyes as they rise to meet opposing white while faces remain locked together close. “I would sooner rip out my own hair than have our Queen’s pet dictate what I should do.” and somewhere beneath the influx of emotion he hasn’t seemed able to quell he knows his choices as far as this is concerned are only one of a possible two. Kso’ppghiel crawls forward and practically on top of the Captain in his attempt to push him to act. He does not care the outcome, he’s simply tired of the game and if angering this man further is what it takes, then so be it. He crawls even further as Bal’thial falls back, attempting to remove himself from under the Harbinger who simply keeps up with his every move. “Then make up your mind, Captain, as it would be rather hard to discipline someone who is attached to your person and capable of harming you.” He yanks the chains of the enchantments back hard, pulling harshly on white braids as he does so. Mismatched eyes narrow and a split second later he’s torn his hand away from his hair and slid it over to wrap around the chain dangling from the blonde’s neck. Twisting the metal once in his hand he yanks Kso’ppghiel’s head to the side while pulling his back free of the floor and up to slide his mouth close to the other man’s ear. A short stream of words slips free of his mouth and in that same instant the tall Captain pulls his other hand away as well to unlatch the mask from the Harbinger’s face. Metal enchantments drop down to dangle in long white plaits and the moment Bal’thial’s gained the freedom of movement he swings his knee harshly up to send the other man crashing towards him. With a fluid twist of the hand still holding the chain tight in his grip, he uses the momentum to spin both bodies around, slamming Kso’ppghiel beneath him before yanking hard to pull his head up. “Do you think I cannot see through your pathetic little game? Even if you took your freedom now, she will never hand over your swords and the moment you try to reclaim them, she will simply reclaim you instead. She will not kill you, nothing you do will gain you an out and the most that will come of this-” he flicks his head to send the mask still tangled in long braided strands crashing down against the Harbinger’s chest. “-is the death of the only person inside of these walls willing to help you in the least.” Fresh air fills Kso’ppghiel’s lungs in a harsh gasp, complete clarity returning to him without the mask bogging him down. A cold laugh leaves him when he has finally caught his breath. Pushing himself up further to Bal’thial’s face in defiance as he speaks, white eyes burning through him, “You call this helping me? How, how Captain is this helping? How is agreeing to beat me within an inch of my life but never giving me the rest for not reacting to her touch helping? There is something very off in this situation and I cannot figure it out but it is not as simple as it appears. One does not simply help for nothing, perhaps you think that if you are able to gain my trust I will comply for your sake. Perhaps you are simply incapable of keeping me in line and that threatens your position with your whore of a Queen. I did not want to fight you, but I am finding that you give me as little choice in the matter as I apparently give you.” “Io’fayl’s wishes will be carried out in one way or another.” Bal’thial’s gaze remains as unyielding as the other’s, their faces now so close to one another that his words barely have room between them to leave full lips. “If she wants you beaten, then it will happen. If she wants you chained, it will happen. Inside of this fortress not one of her wants goes unanswered. She commands respect and loyalty and all of it is given and more by every manner of person you can imagine, most in her soldiery willing to slit each other’s throats simply to gain her favor or find their ways into her bed. I have spent years fighting my way through the ranks to be where I am, sacrificed my life and proved myself to her time and time again and there is very little, Kso’ppghiel that threatens where I stand. But I am not a stupid man and I know my position and my life can be taken easily if she so chooses. If it is not me carrying out her orders then it will be another, one who has no respect for you whatsoever, and one who cares nothing for your plight at all. There is nothing you have that I want beyond a chance to meet you in battle on fairer grounds and this will never happen if you continue to fight against me the way that you are.” “All of this…” Kso’ppghiel’s fingers grab for the mask tangled in white plaits, almost pulling the Captain forward. “So you can meet me in battle? I could have given you that from day one. I would have been glad to take your head as I have taken so many others had you presented yourself to me with that intent. Why me? Why am I here if she has so many others willing to sacrifice everything to be near her? Why take someone who wants to kill her? Why not you, since you seem so loyal? You cannot tell me that you respect me or that you care for anything when this is the result. You give me no choice but to fight. I will not take anything you try to do to by lying down. If you want your battle, take it here and now, as I am tired of playing this game with you. Take what you want or leave me alone.” Bal’thial’s free hand is sliding up before he even realizes it’s happening, marking a quick path towards the Harbinger’s jaw line when the barest traces of a need springs up that he knows all too well. But just as he’s about to wrap clawed fingers beneath the other man’s chin he catches himself, pausing for the briefest of moments before he redirects his hand to yank both the mask and his hair free of Kso’ppghiel’s grip. Unwinding his other from the chain he still holds, the tall Captain slides his body back and steps free of the one below him, smirking with a slight shaking of his head. “What I want…” he starts as he turns away from the Harbinger and moves towards the weapon resting on his wall. “Is something I would rather have given freely .”
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