Make Him Hurt Like I Hurt

18th day of the 6th moon, 1162 HC

Mulsae and Damion arrive in Zudaeshi's suite and she's sitting in the middle of the couch of the main room looking distraught. They take a few tentative steps forward when she suddenly grabs her hair and screams while curling over herself.

She screams and screams. Mulsae and Damion exchange glances. They have no idea what to do. In forty-nine years she has never done this.

Finally she looks up at them and screams legible words, "He found someone else!" She takes a deep breath and yells in a high pitched scream, "A HUMAN!"

Fuck! Mulsae sends to Damion.

Fuck! He replies.

Mulsae takes a few careful steps forward while she sobs into her lap. She then sits up and wipes her face with the back of her hands, "Damion, come." He and Mulsae exchange a look but Damion really has no choice but to go to her.

She scoots over to the side of the couch and pats the cushion next to her. Damion nervously sits down. This is all new territory after decades of routine.

She puts her hand on the other side of his head and guides him down to her lap. "Lay down, Damion dear." She sniffles. He lays his head on her lap and puts his feet up on the couch.

She caresses his hair while quietly sobbing. Mulsae slowly takes it step by step to approach her and lower himself down on the chair next to her.

Her fingers tremble as she strokes Damion's hair, "I gave him everything," she whispers, voice wet and bitter. "Power. Safety. A future. He would rule at my side. And he... he chooses a human? A soft, dull little human who smells like mortality?"

She chokes on a sob. Her fingers still for a moment in Damion's hair before starting again. "What does she have that I don't? What could she possibly give him that I haven't already given, a thousand times over?"

Her voice sharpens as she speaks. "I am the Grandmaster offering him to be Grandmaster with me. And he throws it all away for some stupid, soft-skinned little thing who probably doesn't even know how to bow."

She presses her palm to Damion's cheek. "Do you think she understands him? Do you think she could ever survive what I've survived for him?" Her voice breaks again. "We are bonded. We made promises to each other before the Celestials. And he... he replaced me."

A moment passes in silence, just the slow shudder of her breath. Then her voice falls quiet, quieter than it has been all night.

"I thought we had more time," she murmurs. "I thought he'd come back. Eventually. After he was done being angry. After he saw there was no one else who could love him like I do."

Her eyes flick up to Mulsae, sharp with sudden accusation. "Did you know?" Her voice is soft, but loaded. "Did you see it coming and say nothing?"

She doesn't wait for him to answer. Her attention slides back to Damion. "I would have given him everything. Everything. And he chose her."

She caresses down Damion's face and turns it towards her, "My sweet, loyal Damion dear. You would never leave me, would you?" He shakes his head. "No, of course you wouldn't." She continues to caress his head.

"You did such a good job, Mulsae. I need you to do this to Garrick. I need him loyal and docile like Damion dear." More tears flow down her cheeks.

Mulsae's lips part. He doesn't think this is idle fantasy any more. This may be her actual plans. Fuck.

"And that human. I will hunt her down and bring her back here. I will make her regret ever having met a Sky-Touched before in her life." She curls her fingers around Damion's hair into a fist.

"I need to do it in front of Garrick," she gently rubs her thumb on Damion's temple, "He needs to watch and see the consequences of his actions."

She softly pulls her nails across his cheek, "I'll flay her. No. I'll pluck out her eyes. No. Cut off her fingers. No no. What would really crush him? Crush him like how I've been crushed."

She ponders while she lifts and drops locks of Damion's hair. "He needs to see that she has been with someone else, too. That she's been with..." Her eyes flick up to Mulsae and she grins devilishly. "That she's been with you. He hates you. There could be nothing worse for him than to see his lover in your arms."

She settles back into the couch as seductive ideas float through her mind. "I'm going to find the human first. Not tip Garrick off. Let him think he got away with hiding her. Just find her. Bring her here. And you, Mulsae dear, you are going to break her. Make her yours."

Her smile widens. "And then I will bring him here and present her to him as your pet." She shudders pleasantly, "Gods, that would be amazing. That would make him hurt like he's hurt me."

She laughs softly and wipes another tear from her cheek.

"But I won't stop there," she gently scratches Damion's scalp, "I am done waiting. I want you to break him and make him loyal to me."

She smiles with a glint in her eye, "I'll keep them both as pets. Matching collars. Matching leashes. A matching set. And then let Garrick watch her slowly age and die like the mortal she is."

She breathes out, trembling. "Wouldn't that be lovely?"

Mulsae feels something in his chest twist. He doesn't dare speak. Doesn't dare move. He just meets her gaze, calm and still and unreadable.

Zudaeshi exhales a long, shaking breath. Her hand relaxes in Damion's hair. She leans back against the cushions, stroking Damion's hair again like a child with a favorite doll.

"Make him stay this time, Mulsae. Whatever it takes."

Mulsae's mind can't help but to run the calculations. How could he break a stubborn brute like Garrick? He isn't a soldier nor tactician like Damion. He won't think things through like Damion did. He'll lash out without even thinking of the consequences.

He blinks his eyes to shake the thoughts. He shouldn't even be thinking such things. He's vowed to be better. He can't possibly attempt to break another person after what he did to Damion. But how could he deny Zudaeshi? He suppresses a sigh. He is fucked.