The proclamation hit Remi in the stomach like a bag of heavy stones, knocking the air from her lungs.

She stumbled back into the crowd in surprise.

Killure had killed Lord Darium Gallanthus?

But why?

She'd never heard him mention any ill-will towards the lord before. Then again, from what little she knew of Killure, he probably wouldn't tell her anything. He never opened up about his past.

Faye was going to be devastated about not getting to marry the man before he died. Now, all his riches and trade would go to his brother.

She noticed Faye stumble out into the crowd, tears streaming down her face. She ran into the new lord's arms and wept, and he wept with her.

Remi doubted either of them actually cared about the man, but they had to put on a show for the people, and that's what they were doing.

Caede stood on the edge of the crowd, a small smirk on his face. He quickly morphed it into a deep frown whenever Faye turned his way.

A few moments later, Faye turned around and began screaming, her shrill voice raising to an even higher pitch than the crowd's collective hollering. "Burn this beast alive!" she shrieked, pointing a long, thin finger at Killure.

The only way they could have caught him and bound him like this was if he'd fallen unconscious from being too far away from Remi.

A large man stepped on Remi's foot, and she quickly kicked at his knee to get him to move. When he finally did, hardly noticing her, Remi lost her balance and went careening towards the front of the crowd, on the very edge before the clearing.

In unison, the crowd began screaming, "Burn him! Burn him! Burn him!"

Remi's heat began to pound hard against her rib cage, and her mouth felt dry.

Killure didn't run away, but he was willing to forfeit his life in order to kill this one man.

Had he been scouting Darium outevery time he said he was going on a walk? Learning his routine, watching his patrols, until he found every weakness in order to exploit it?

He was a murderer. One of the worst—the kind that enjoyed seeing the life drain from the eyes of his victims and mutilating then with his claws. She'd seen it first hand that hot day on the streets.

He deserved to burn. She should let him.

And yet, Remi couldn't. She trusted Killure. She didn't believe for even a second that he would go to such an elaborate extreme and get himself killed as a result for no good reason.

She couldn't let him burn, no matter how terrible of a person he was. She'd come to truly care about him.

Killure's head groggily snapped up just as the torch was coming down on the straw at his feet to set him on fire.

With her being so close, his energy must be returning to his body.

Going this far away from the Goldridge home must have really sucked every bit of energy from his body. It was a wonder that he was still breathing.

Without hesitating any further, Remi dashed forward, sprinting towards the descending torch.

One leg in front of the other, pushing off as hard as she could whenever her foot touched the ground.

She had to reach him before the fire consumed him.

Dust swirled around in her wake, getting in her hair, swirling around her face and causing her to cough.

Remi's heart sunk. She wasn't going to make it in time.

The torch lit the straw on fire, and the flame quickly spread all across the base of the platform.

The crowd was demanding to hear his screams.

But Killure was conscious now.

With slow, sluggish movements, he untied himself by slitting the ropes with his sharp claws.

He leapt from the platform just before the stake caught on fire—right where his feet had been moments before.

He rolled head over heels across the clearing, too weak to stop himself. When he finally stopped rolling, Killure pulled himself into a crouch and bared his teeth. His body shook from the strain, and Remi could tell that he was barely able to stay upright.

Remi let out a sigh of relief. He was fine.

—Only to realize that she was now standing in the centre of the clearing herself, with the eyes of the entire crowd on her. The newly appointed lord's eyes on her.

Faye's eyes on her.

For once, the crowd was dead silent.

Faye's gaze was wide and searching. Penetrating. She slowly approached Remi, a million emotions flashing through her eyes all at once.

"That . . . that's your slave, isn't it?" Faye whispered, confusion creasing her thin brows.

A terrible, silent second of time passed.

Finally, Remi nodded. "Yes."

The crowd let out a collective gasp. They turned their accusatory eyes on her, as if she herself had killed the lord.

But it was no wonder that they would think that. After all, slaves never acted on their own desires. They only ever fulfilled the orders of their masters.

Faye, and everyone else, now thought that Remi had sent Killure to kill her fiancé.

Remi shook her head quickly, holding her hands in the air. "No! I didn't . . ."

"Traitor!" the dead lord's brother screamed at her. She wanted to swat him away like a fly.

"Didn't you?" her sister whispered brokenly, tears streaming down her face. "The slave wasn't smart enough to do this for himself." She trailed off, her eyes flickering to Killure, who was slashing wildly at anyone who came too close. "Unless he was."

"What do you mean?"

"Prove to me that you weren't involved," Faye begged.

"Anything," Remi whispered, her heart clenching. She was on the verge of losing her sister. Although Faye was often vain and selfish, Remi still loved her. The last thing she wanted was to destroy their relationship.

Her voice turned cold. "Tell him to get back on that stake and let himself burn."

Remi's heart instantly dropped to the pit of her stomach, as though it were encased by cement.

Faye's words sent the crowd into a riot of excitement.

"Tell him! Tell him!" the crowd chanted as one.

She knew they didn't particularly care about the fate of Lord Gallanthus, unless they were doing business with him and were afraid his death would cause them to lose money. Most, however, simply wanted to see a show. And in their eyes, the more gruesome the better.

Remi parted her lips to speak, but the words froze on her lips when she saw that Killure's attention was already on her.

He was shaking from fatigue and looked like a wild animal who had just been cornered. His eyes had been darting around wildly, never coming to rest on one particular thing, and he held one of his clawed hands in the air, as if he was eager to slash his way out of this.

And now, Killure's gaze had settled on her.

There was a wild, demented look in his eyes. He wasn't the same Killure she was used to. No, this side of him was reserved for situations when he thought he was going to have to fight his way out, or die.

He let out a dark, maniacal laugh. There was no hint of warmth in it. Only an abyss of icy cruelty.

His expression hardened, and the upward tilt of his lips turned cruel. "What's it gonna be, master?" His voice was low and ice cold.

She could tell by his tone that he really thought she was going to hand him over to the wolves.

Did he really have such little faith in her?

He may be her slave, but he was also her friend.

And Remi would never betray a friend.

A knife flew at Killure. It was a lousy throw, and he hardly had to move in order to avoid it. He turned on the man who'd thrown the knife.

"'M gonna slash each and every one of you into a bloody mess," he warned gleefully, his voice rising. "Carve put your innards and eat them."

He let out another loud, eerie cackle that chilled Remi to the bone.

His words made people scared, and in turn made them angry, and some rushed at him.

Though Killure was still weak and his movements weren't near as precise and quick as they normally were, he still managed to attack them like a rabid beast, intent on destruction.

Within half a minute, their corpses were strewn around him in bloody strips.

He'd torn them apart.

He looked upon his handiwork in glee, proud of what he'd done. Almost as if they were his trophies.

Remi's lips parts in shock. He truly was a monster. She was risking her life and livelihood for a monster.

Killure brandished his claws once more, holding them at ready by his sides. Blood dripped from their pointy tips to the hot, dusty ground.

He lifted his head and met Remi's shocked gaze. Slowly, he sauntered over towards her, his movements smooth and with all the grace of a feline.

"Poor little doll. Now you know I thrive on death. I love the blood. I enjoy seeing the life drain from the eyes of my victims," he said tantalizingly, his dark blue eyes swirling with madness. "So go on and do exactly what I already know you're gonna do. Give me up. Give me a fucking excuse to rip you apart and splay your mutilated remains on the street for all to see. Don't prolong this for any longer than necessary."

"Just say the word, Remi," Faye called, becoming annoyed. "Unless you really did tell him to kill my fiancé."

Remi ignored her.

Her attention was only on the Icix.

Yes, he was a monster. He was everything she despised.

But that wasn't all of who he was. No, there was good inside of him too, and she'd seen it on multiple occasions. And if she turned her back on him now when he'd just begun to trust her and show her he wasn't evil to the core, that small flame of light inside of him would

be snuffed out forever.

She'd made up her mind.

"Are you going to kill me, Killure?" Remi asked calmly, staring straight into the eyes of the wild beast in front of her.

She took a step forwards. There was no going back.

—————

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone that has been reading and supporting Indomitable! We've reached three thousand views, which is absolutely incredible and more than I ever dreamed of getting. You guys are absolutely fantastic, thank you