Chapter 692: The dog(3)
With every eye fixed upon him, Alpheo delivered on the spectacle he had promised.Each motion deliberate. Each word, measured to make the event as memorable as possible.
He strode over the remnants of the feast as if they were nothing more than ashes underfoot. Goblets crushed, golden platters kicked aside, roast meats flattened under the weight of his boots. The echoes of destruction rang across the high hall like a funeral bell.
Like a peacock splaying his feathers before a terrified court, Alpheo displayed the full, terrible majesty of his conquest, not with jewels, but with presence. With dominance.
He turned slowly to face the room, arms outstretched like a prophet preaching from a blood-stained altar. His cloak swirled at his heels, trailing crumbs and spilled wine. And when he spoke, his voice boomed, not loud, but resonant. Not shouted, but heard.
"All men must obey the law."
The room didn’t breathe as he made his proclamation, in a tone that left no space to retort. Even the flames in the sconces seemed to lean toward him.
"No matter how high they rise. No matter what name they carry or what blood fills their veins. There is always a power above them. Always a reckoning."
He walked the length of the table now, stepping between plates once filled with food now crushed beneath conquest. The lords followed him with wide eyes, like sheep trailing a wolf who had already chosen his prey.
"It is the law," he continued, "that binds men to civility, that separates us from beasts. Without it, we are nothing but the wild turned inward, snarling, clawing, devouring our own.It is men’s duty to make logical what is illogical"
He turned then, sharply, and pointed across the hall.
"To break the law is to return to savagery. And what do we do with beasts who forget themselves?"
He did not wait for an answer. He gave it.