Kalen nodded with difficulty.
He turned and walked toward Grey Stone Keep.
At the same time, he cursed inwardly.
Damn it! You demanded 2,000 Gold Dragons from my father, but 5,000 from me!
You gave my father an hour, but only half an hour for me! You bastard!
Davion gave Kalen's retreating back a meaningful look and chuckled.
He dragged the dying Elton over and tossed him straight onto Raymond.
Raymond groaned in pain, then fell still.
Davion sat on top of them.
Once again, Kalen's readiness to comply exceeded Davion's expectations.
Just over twenty minutes later, he actually emerged from Grey Stone Keep with a carriage drawn by eight horses.
He had the driver stop the carriage to one side, then approached Davion with a sincere smile, holding a money bag in both hands.
He respectfully offered the money bag to Davion.
"My lord Earl! I turned Grey Stone Keep upside down, but this was all I could find. There are 4,600 Gold Dragons and 200 Silver Stags here."
Davion took the bag in one hand and hefted it twice.
"This money has some heft!"
Kalen's eyes widened. He knew just how heavy that bag of money was!
He could barely manage to hold it with both hands, yet Davion could lift it with just one.
Davion continued:
"Lord Kalen, so you couldn't scrape together the full amount? Don't let it bother you! What's a little money, right?"
"I'll give you a month to gather it."
"Take your time. I'm in no hurry!"
Kalen's cheek twitched involuntarily, but he still forced a faint smile.
"Thank you, my lord Earl. Praise your mercy and generosity."
Davion stood and stretched.
His movement sent Elton rolling off onto the ground.
Davion looked at Elton as though he had just remembered something.
"Oh, right! Lord Kalen, since you owe me money, it wouldn't be unreasonable for me to charge a little interest, would it?"
"Not at all, not at all."
"Very good. You'll make an even better vassal than your father."
As Davion spoke, he shoved the longsword in his hand into Kalen's.
"Elton has lost too much blood. He might already be in the Stranger's embrace! But I'm not sure he's completely dead! Do me a favor and test him with this sword!"
"Wh-what? My lord Earl, weren't you supposed to..."
Weren't you supposed to kill him? How did it become my turn?
Davion seized Kalen's arm, interrupting him, and pulled him over to Elton.
"Why are you nervous? I'd say he's probably dead!"
"See? He's bled enough to fill two milk pails."
"Just test him with this sword. You can stab him anywhere."
"But, but..."
Kalen stammered, trying to say something.
But despite the smile on Davion's face, his eyes were exceptionally cold, and Kalen shrank back at the sight.
Davion held his hand and set the sword's point against the right side of Elton's chest.
"Come on, Lord Kalen. Drive it in hard!"
"Just drive it in, and I won't charge interest on those few hundred Gold Dragons you owe me."
Once again, understanding dawned on Kalen.
Davion didn't want the infamy of indiscriminately killing his vassals either!
But I've already publicly declared that I'm betraying my father, and now you want me to kill my own kin?
Kalen had already cursed Davion a thousand times in the vilest language he knew.
Yet he still dared not resist, nor did the hand holding the sword press down.
"Lord Kalen, do it!"
Davion's icy voice rang in Kalen's ear. His tone was calm, yet it was as though a dragon lay beside his ear, roaring.
At that moment, all his dignity and schemes seemed to be torn to pieces along with his soul.
Kalen instinctively obeyed Davion's words.
His sword hand thrust sharply downward.
Suddenly, Elton let out an agonized scream.
"Ah!"
Both his hands clamped onto the blade, and he stared fixedly at Kalen with bloodshot eyes as blood spurted from his mouth.
Elton seemed to want to say something, but every time he opened his mouth, only blood came out.
Elton's scream startled Kalen back to his senses.
He hastily stumbled two steps backward.
This time, he tripped over Raymond's body again.
He instantly lost his balance and landed backside-first on Raymond's wounded chest.
Davion clearly heard the cracking of bones.
He frowned and spoke with a look of concern.
"Lord Kalen, what are you doing? Oh dear! Hurry and check your father. Has his breastbone broken?"
As he spoke, he pulled the longsword from Elton's chest with one hand and slashed it across Elton's throat in the same motion.
How could Davion possibly let someone else have those five experience points?
Of course he had to do it himself.
Kalen was already beginning to break down.
Davion Whent!
He's so vicious!
He toys with people's hearts!
He makes brothers kill each other!
He turns fathers and sons against each other!
He's a devil!
Kalen scrambled off Raymond in a panic.
Davion stood beside Raymond, resting both hands on the sword's pommel as he looked down.
"Raymond Vance!"
"What a pity. I meant to take you back to Harrenhal for trial."
"I never imagined you'd die beneath your own son's backside!"
"I believe this manner of death is utterly unique in Westeros!"
"This glory will be yours alone."
With that, Davion raised his longsword and pierced Raymond's throat with a single thrust.
Raymond stared fixedly at Davion. Even after the light left his eyes, they remained wide open.
Beside them, Kalen watched Davion with terror in his eyes.
He asked in a trembling voice.
"My... my lord Earl, are you going to kill me next?"
Davion turned to Kalen with a look of surprise.
"Lord Kalen, how could you think that?"
"We've only just forged such a deep friendship!"
"And with this unbreakable financial bond between us, how could I kill you?"
"It hurts me that you see me that way!"
Kalen relaxed a little and tried hard to force a smile.
But the corners of his mouth kept twitching, and he could not smile.
He no longer knew which of Davion's words were true and which were false.
In his distress, two streams of clear tears actually ran from his eyes.
And just then!
A smile utterly unlike his usual sinister expression blossomed on his lips!
That smile was both radiant and miserable-contradictory, at any rate!
Watching him laugh and cry at once, Davion thought to himself.
Shit, did I take this a little too far? Has he gone mad?
If I'd known, I would've used another method!
There's nothing I can do now. Kalen can't die yet!
Harrenhal is short of men. I still need him to look after Grey Stone Keep!
I'll come take over once I have enough men!
When that happens, Lord Kalen, you'll have to surrender your life.
This body's original owner never forgot that all three of you, father and sons, attacked him together that day!
Davion pulled out his longsword, slid it into the scabbard at his waist, and turned to board the carriage.
A girl of around ten sat inside.
She wore an ill-fitting noblewoman's formal dress.
It was clearly something found for her at short notice.
At that moment, she was staring expressionlessly with wide eyes at Raymond and his two sons on the ground.
Davion looked at her, nodded, and thought.
Those eyes look like a leading lady's!
I suppose she's had a miserable life and been bullied since childhood! Judging by how readily Kalen agreed to hand her over, this girl probably isn't very close to her father and brothers!
What does that have to do with me? She's just a maid! I'll hand her over to Pia when I get back!
Wait, she could also be Lady Vance!
Before you continue