She put her hand over her face as she cried loudly into her palms. Her shoulders shook with the force of her fake sobs.

But behind her hands, hidden from the rest of the room, Camilla’s eyes were completely dry and entirely sharp. She was watching Damon’s boots closely.

In her mind, she thought to herself, analyzing the General’s silence.

"Why isn’t he saying anything?" Camilla wondered internally. Her thoughts were fast and highly critical. "I knew it! He won’t believe me. He is just going to stand there. He is going to take the side of his precious camp doctor who saved his life."

She peeked through her fingers, stealing a quick glance at Brie’s shocked face.

"You want to compare acting skills with me?" Camilla thought to herself, mocking the physician completely in her mind. "Dream on. I have faked tears to escape from heavily armed security guards. You are just a sad amateur playing in the dirt."

Brie saw Damon looking at Camilla. Brie panicked. She could not let the General believe the crying girl.

Brie spoke quickly, stepping forward. "General, she’s faking it! She’s the one at fault! She is lying to you to cover up her terrible mistake!"

Damon stood perfectly still in the middle of the tent. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He listened to Brie’s loud, desperate accusations. He listened to Camilla’s loud, dramatic sobbing.

And, most importantly, he heard Camilla’s sharp thoughts echoing perfectly inside his own head. He knew exactly who was faking it. He knew exactly what was really happening.

Damon spoke. His deep voice was completely calm.

"Okay," Damon said simply.

He took a slow step forward. He walked directly towards Camilla.

Brie smiled happily. " He believes me." She thought with pride.

Hearing his footsteps approach, Camilla stopped crying instantly. She slowly lowered her hands from her face. She looked up at him.

"Is he stupid?" Camilla thought to herself as he advanced toward the desk. Her internal voice was full of dangerous warning. She prepared herself for a fight.

"If he can’t tell the difference between a lying bitch and his own wife," Camilla reasoned in her mind, her eyes narrowing slightly. "If he says anything stupid right now... or if he even says one single bad word to me to defend that doctor, I will divorce him today. He doesn’t deserve to be my husband. I will divorce him, and then I will kill him in his sleep."

Damon reached the desk. He did not yell at her. He did not ask her to stop crying.

Instead, Damon hovered over her. He leaned his tall, broad, muscular body down across the wooden desk, bringing his face very close to hers.

He smirked. A very small, very dark, highly amused smile touched the corners of his lips. He found her threats cute.

He brought his mouth close to her ear. He whispered to her very softly, making absolutely sure the two women standing near the door could not hear him.

"Who broke the figurine?" Damon whispered smoothly.

Camilla stammered. Her mouth opened slightly. She was completely shocked by his action. He was not angry at her. He was actually asking her for the truth quietly, completely playing along with her dramatic game. He was not taking the physician’s side at all.

"Mi... Mildred," Camilla whispered back softly, her eyes wide with surprise. She pointed a very small finger slightly toward the terrified assistant kneeling on the floor.

Damon pulled his head back. The small, dark smirk vanished instantly from his face. He stood up completely straight. His expression returned to a mask of freezing, terrifying stone.

He turned his body away from Camilla. He looked directly at Kade, who was standing quietly near the entrance of the tent.

Damon issued his absolute, final judgment.

"See to it that Miss Brie is to be evicted from this camp with immediate effect," Damon ordered firmly. His deep voice boomed with unquestionable authority.

He turned his cold eyes toward the head physician.

"Make sure she doesn’t find anywhere to practice medicine in this entire kingdom," Damon continued, issuing a completely devastating punishment. He was completely destroying her career and her future.

"She had the audacity to treat my wife as a servant," Damon stated coldly, defending Camilla’s honor publicly in front of his aide. "She must pay the absolute price."

Brie’s eyes widened in total, mind-shattering horror. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

The shock was too much for her body to handle. Her legs gave out completely. Brie fell heavily to the floor. She stared up at the General, completely unable to believe that her years of loyal medical service meant absolutely nothing to him compared to the tears of his wife. Her arrogant confidence was entirely broken.

Damon did not even look down at her on the floor. He turned his attention toward the young assistant kneeling near the broken figurine.

Damon continued speaking. His voice was ruthless and carried absolutely no mercy.

"As for Miss Mildred," Damon said slowly. "Your punishment awaits for the destruction of a Royal gift and military property."

Mildred started crying loudly again, tears streaming down her pale face. "General! Please! I beg you!"

Damon ignored her desperate cries completely. He looked at his loyal aide.

"Kade?" Damon called out smoothly.

Kade stepped forward quickly and bowed his head respectfully. "Yes, my lord?"

Damon replied, his tone perfectly calm, as if he were simply ordering a cup of tea instead of a brutal military punishment.

"Tie her to an archery target," Damon ordered clearly.

He turned his head slightly and looked back at Camilla standing behind the desk.

"The lady would want to learn some archery this afternoon," Damon added smoothly, a dark, dangerous glint in his eye.

Mildred’s tears increased violently. She let out a loud, terrifying wail of agony. She collapsed completely onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably into her hands. She knew exactly what that punishment meant. She knew she was going to die on the training field, tied to a wooden board while arrows flew at her.

Standing behind the desk, Camilla was too dumbfounded to speak.

She stared at Damon with her mouth slightly open. She had planned to punish the two women by having Mr. Murry fire them. But Damon’s method was incredibly brutal, totally unexpected, and highly terrifying. He was truly the Tyrant General. He did not play silly games. He dealt out actual, deadly consequences.

Kade did not hesitate to follow his commander’s strict orders. He turned around, walked to the canvas flap, and called out to the heavily armored soldiers standing guard outside.

"Guards," Kade ordered loudly and clearly. "Take these two away."

Two massive, strong military guards marched quickly into the command tent. They did not ask any questions. They grabbed the crying Brie and the screaming Mildred roughly by the arms. They dragged the two disgraced, completely defeated women out of the General’s private space, pulling them away to face their terrible punishments.

The white canvas flap fell completely shut behind them. The loud crying faded away into the busy noise of the military camp.

The command tent was completely quiet once again.

Camilla stood behind the desk. Damon stood in front of it. They were finally alone.