Second Day (1 of 5)
Breaking the Breaker: Zudaeshi forces Mulsae and Damion to kneel at her breakfast, commanding Mulsae to execute grieving men by hand
‘Breaking the Breaker’ Content Warning: Erotic Horror
Story contains graphic depictions of violence, non-consensual sex, psychological manipulation, power imbalance, humiliation, dehumanization, and other dark, disturbing themes.
This story invites reflection on what happens to the mind under sustained horror, how identity reshapes itself around trauma, and what traces of agency persist when autonomy has been stripped away.
Proceed with extreme caution.
27th day of the 2nd moon
1113 HC
Damion wakes and has no idea what time it is. Their room is tucked in the back halls of the palace that are hewn from the mountain. No windows. Probably to keep them more easily trapped.
Mulsae isn't in the bed. He rolls out and stalks over to the bathing chamber and takes a peek inside. There's Mulsae, standing naked, in front of the counter looking at himself in the mirror. He softly pads over to him.
"Are you alright?"
He shakes his head, "I will be," he whispers. He turns his head and looks seriously at Damion, "Stop concerning yourself about me," then turns away and walks to the tub and turns on the water.
Damion glances around and doesn't see a shower. This palace is old, and showers are more modern. They'll have to live with the antiquated plumbing system. He leaves the bathing chamber to give Mulsae some privacy. He'll bathe after him.
He goes over to the wardrobe and takes out the Heavenwood parchment. He opens and scans it for any new content. His hopes of finding news of help coming is dashed when he finds nothing new. He folds it up and puts it back under the rear leg of the wardrobe.
He goes through the wardrobe and chest of drawers and finds nothing. They're empty with a layer of dust inside.
He sits in a chair and drums his fingers against the chair's arm. How are they going to get Mulsae's magic back? How are they going to survive Zudaeshi in the meantime? Mulsae is already falling apart. How can he step up and help?
Damion hears the tub start to drain. He goes back into the bathing chamber and looks through all of the cabinets and drawers while Mulsae towels himself off. There is a good supply of differently sized towels, soap, shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste. It's good enough to keep clean.
Mulsae heads out of the chamber with a towel wrapped around his waist. Damion turns on the tub and gets right in. He doesn't care about the water temperature. He cleans his asshole and plug in the running water before plugging up the tub. He quickly washes his body while the tub is filling, then rinses off and does his hair once the tub is full. He finishes up, unplugs the tub and steps out.
He dries off and goes to put his pants back on, and oof. They smell. He had to put them on last night before he could clean himself. He hadn't found anything that could mask the smell, so that leaves him with two choices.
He sticks his head out into the bedchamber, "Smelly dry pants, or wet clean pants?"
He gets no response. He sees Mulsae is sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the floor. Damion walks over and waves his pants in front of him.
Mulsae rears up and exclaims, "Gross!"
"I assume your advice would be wet clean pants over smelly dry pants," Damion smirks.
"Oh gods, yes, Damion, yes," Mulsae gasps, "Wet pants are better."
Damion turns and purposely waves the pants under Mulsae's face again just to hear him exclaim, "Gods! That's nasty!"
Damion walks back into the bathing chamber, happy to have gotten some sort of reaction out of Mulsae. He kneels in the tub with his pants and runs the water over them. He soaps them up and rubs against the stains on the rear of the pants. He keeps smelling and rubbing until all he can smell is soap. Then he rinses off the pants, turns off the water, and wrings as much water as he can out of the pants. He gets out of the tub and rolls the pants up within a towel then takes it back into the other room and sits on it to squeeze all the water into the towel.
Mulsae is back to merely sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the floor.
"Do you have any plans?" Damion asks.
"Lirae is my first priority," Mulsae whispers. Damion nods. "I have to do everything I can to keep Her eyes off the Water Sanctum."
"I understand," Damion nods solemnly.
Damion gets up and shakes the pants out of the towel. He feels the wetness and shrugs to himself. He's dealt with worse during his centuries as a soldier. He slides them on.
He walks over to Mulsae and puts his hands on his shoulders, "You have the weight of the world on your shoulders."
"I have the weight of a Sanctum on my shoulders," Mulsae says softly.
Damion crouches down so he can look into Mulsae's eyes, "You're not alone."
"The nature of my position is to be alone," Mulsae shakes his head. He runs a finger down Damion's face, "I know you’re trying to help. And it warms my heart that you care. But you aren’t helping. You’re just... another burden right now."
Damion's heart sinks.
Mulsae clears his throat and sits up straight, "Damion, stand in front of the fire and dry your pants off."
Damion stands and nods. He walks over to the fire and stands in the heat. He's surprised at himself how much he feels better being told what to do. He was so worried and anxious just a moment ago, and yet now he feels calmer. He knows what to be doing with himself. He feels more secure. It feels as though Mulsae will have all the answers. He stands in the warmth and lets it burn away the useless questions.
They stay in silence with the only sound being the crackling of the fire. Then suddenly the door opens and a gruff voice announces, "You've been summoned to the Sanctum Masters' breakfast."
Mulsae stands and goes to the door wearing nothing but the towel wrapped around his waist. He has no clothing to wear. The guard guffaws at the sight of Mulsae. He throws him a pair of pants, "The Harmonarch said to wear these."
Mulsae catches the pants and inclines his head. He merely turns around, drops the towel to the floor and slides the pants on. He then heads out the door with his back straight and head held high with his classic bored expression.
The guard points at Damion, "You, too," he demands. Damion blinks but then skips and whisks himself out the door.
The guard takes them through the bright white halls. Mulsae follows as if this is his palace, and Damion follows just trying to survive the next moment.
They arrive at the same room they had dinner in the night before. There is a round table with seven place settings. Most of the Sanctum Masters are already there and speaking softly with each other.
Mulsae approaches to look at the name cards on the table and Valena hisses at him, "What happened to you?"
Deryn puts a hand on Valena's shoulder, "She gave him a rough night. Let him be." Mulsae narrows his eyes at Deryn but then continues to look at the name tags.
Mulsae and Damion get to the side of the table that has the chair with the tallest back and see a cushion on the floor with Damion's name tag. They walk around the tall chair and see yet another cushion. And this one has the name tag for Mulsae.
Damion rolls his eyes but Mulsae keeps his expression stoic. A muscle in his jaw just feathers almost imperceptibly.
Damion and Mulsae stay near the tall chair while the other Masters talk amongst themselves.
The last Master arrives and a person announces, "The Harmonarch approaches. Please stand by your designated chairs."
Everyone approaches their chairs. Mulsae and Damion look at each other one last time before they move to stand in front of their respective cushion. Sounds hush and quiet as the clacking of Zudaeshi's shoes billows throughout the space.
She walks up to the table, dragging her nails across the back of Garrick's shoulders when she passes by, then rakes her nails over Mulsae's scalp as she takes her place to stand in front of the tall chair. She gazes out at the assembled Masters. She takes a moment to look each one in the eye.
"Sit," she orders. The chairs scrape across the floor as the Masters move them to get seated and pull them back to the table. Mulsae and Damion kneel down on their cushions.
Zudaeshi places the tips of her nails on the top of Mulsae's scalp. They dig in and Mulsae schools his expression to keep his face blank. She taps her index finger against his head as she speaks.
"Next steps," she announces, "You are to pay tribute to me. Quarterly. Every third new moon starting with the next new moon."
The Masters eye each other. Halion speaks up, "The new moon is next week."
"Yes, it is. Thank you for keeping us abreast of the calendar. I won't read into anything else you might have been implying," she narrows her eyes at him. He shifts in his seat uncomfortably.
She continues to tap her finger on Mulsae's head. She sighs, "There are already talks of rebellion. And it hasn't even been a whole day yet," she tsks and shakes her head.
She snaps her fingers and four men are brought out wearing brown clothing and their hands tied behind them. Ground Master Dalenna's eyes grow wide. The men are guided to the end of the table and forced to kneel.
"These four were found collaborating just last night, plotting to usurp your Harmonarch."
"Please have mercy on them, Your Radiance. They just lost their Master's consort last night. One of them is his brother. They are grief stricken and acting impulsively," Dalenna begs, "Please, have mercy."
Zudaeshi narrows her eyes at Dalenna, "Rebellion will not be tolerated. It will be dealt with swiftly and severely."
She turns to Mulsae. She runs her nails down his scalp and jaw to prick a nail under his chin. She forces him to look up at her. "Mulsae dear, kill the traitors."
She removes her nail and Mulsae nods. He stands gracefully and strides over to the captured men kneeling before the table. No one gives him anything to kill with. He's forced to use his bare hands.
Mulsae gets a firm grip on the first man’s head then looks up at Zudaeshi for final confirmation. She simply nods. He takes a deep breath then swiftly snaps the man's head in a rapid twist to break his neck. Mulsae lets go of the head and the body collapses to the floor.
Dalenna gasps. She's sitting within arms reach of these men she desperately wishes she could save. And now one lays dead at her feet.
Mulsae steps over to the next man and grasps his head. Dalenna's breath hitches. The man and Dalenna stare at each other with intensity. Mulsae looks up for confirmation and Zudaeshi nods. He rapidly pulls his arms and twists the man's neck to make it break. He releases the head and the body crumples to the floor. Dalenna chokes a sob and falls back in her chair. She pants and stares at the body on the floor.
Mulsae steps to the third man and wraps his arms around his head. He looks up for confirmation.
Dalenna pops forward to look down the table at Zudaeshi, "Gods, please have mercy, Zudaeshi, please!"
"Your Radiance," she hisses. "Always."
"I'm sorry, Your Radiance, I'm so sorry. Please have mercy," Dalenna begs with tears flowing down her face.
"Do it, Mulsae," she orders coldly. Mulsae whips his arms and breaks the man’s neck. He drops the body at his feet.
Dalenna is panting heavily, clenching and unclenching her fists helplessly. Mulsae steps behind the fourth and final man to be executed. He wraps his arms around his head and looks to Zudaeshi. Dalenna begs quietly, "Please," through tear-soaked lips. Zudaeshi nods her head and Mulsae immediately whips his arms and drops the last dead body to the floor.
Dalenna sits staring at the bodies with her bottom lip quivering. Mulsae stands looking to Zudaeshi for orders. His fingers tremble slightly and he promptly stuffs them into his pockets.
She snaps her fingers, "It's time to serve breakfast," she looks to Mulsae, "Return to kneeling at my side, Mulsae dear."
Mulsae walks back to his cushion as if nothing had happened with a perfect bored expression. He kneels gracefully to the cushion and owns it as if it were his throne.
Servants come filing into the room in a line and put plates of food and cups of drink on the table for each of the guests. Except for Mulsae and Damion.
Those seated at the table begin to eat, except for Dalenna. She stares at her plate breathing heavily. Her brother-in-law lays dead at her feet.
"Dalenna, you must eat," Zudaeshi reprimands. Dalenna glances at her then picks up her chopsticks and picks at her food.
Continue reading: Second Day (2 of 5)
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