lคץ ๓є l๏ฬ

[assassinrue]

Cassius gasped awake in the early hours of the morning. He hurt. Everything in his body felt like rot and pain. Except his hand, it hurt in a different way. Someone was holding it tightly.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Averyl had fallen asleep sometime during the night, and her head was resting on Cassius's arm, and she was definitely holding his hand tightly.

[assassinrue]

Cassius looked down at her. She was soft and quiet when she was asleep. So much less intimidating.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Averyl's eyelids flickered open and swept up to his face. When she saw that he was awake, her head snapped up. "Cassius?" she whispered.

[assassinrue]

Cassius groaned. "My lady..." he gasped, his voice hoarse and low. "The intruders..."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"What about them?" Averyl asked. Her mind didn't quite comprehend was he was trying to tell her. She was too focused on the fact that he was here, alive, to worry about the men that had invaded the mansion.

[assassinrue]

"They went straight for your room. They wanted something. I must interrogate." His voice rasped harshly against his throat.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Not just now," she said firmly. "You must recover first. The prisoner will wait."

[assassinrue]

Cassius lay back coughing, she was probably right. He couldn't move at all. His body was too weak.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Averyl let out a quiet breath. "How do you feel?" she asked. It was a stupid question, as she knew he probably felt horrible, but she wanted to know how he'd respond.

[assassinrue]

Cassius let out a breath. "Like I'm dying. Less now than before. But still."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"You'll be better in a few days," Averyl said. She wasn't sure that was true, but the old man had told her that the worst had passed. That if Cassius survived the night, he would recover eventually. She was clinging to that.

[assassinrue]

Cassius nodded but said nothing, in his mind he was preparing for torturing, dissecting the man's physique, what tools he could use.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Averyl watched his face and a chill ran down her spine, though she could not say why. Something in his eyes frightened her. "Cassius?"

[assassinrue]

Cassius blinked back into the present and looked at her. "Yes, m'lady?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"What's going on in that mind of yours?" she said.

[assassinrue]

"I'm certain you don't want the details, ma'am."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

From what she'd seen earlier, Averyl thought this was probably accurate. "Maybe you should rest some more," she said.

[assassinrue]

Cassius turned his head away from her, ashamed. He didn't want her to know that soulless, dark, cold side of him.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Averyl stood and adjusted the blanket covering him. "I'll come back in a few hours," she told him.