Clash (The Arinthian Line Book 4) by Sever Bronny

voice was a deadly whisper.
    “When Mrs. Stone hears—”
    “Voidus lingua!”
    Augum’s voice again snuffed. He slammed his fist into the ground in frustration.
    “Temper, temper,” Harvus cooed. “And wild arcanery will not do, Augum Stone, it will not do at all. I have to be honest. I am very disappointed in you. You seem to lack the ability to follow common instructions. Further, you lack respect and discipline. An entire kingdom is relying on you to somehow defeat your father, perhaps by convincing him not to be evil—or some such nonsense, who truly knows—and yet you cavort with some stupid little harlot who should have been left back at the farm.”
    Augum stood up, spitting out the last of the bile. He snorted through one nostril and then the other, before suddenly shoving at the air before him, screaming “BAKA!”
    Except he could make no sound so Harvus was unaffected. Instead, the man chortled to himself as Augum’s arms dropped to his sides, hands balled into fists, chest heaving like a bull.
    Harvus leaned in a little. “You are nothing more than a common brute, Augum, like those disgusting Sierrans back there that should have stayed in the desert; like those barbaric, filthy Henawa that should keep to the north; like everyone in this hovel of a village. And you know what? I no longer believe you are going to save us or anyone from your father’s insanity. You are simply … how shall one put it … too stupid. Too stupid and too weak, and I think our time together is going to be rather short, yes. And I assure you, I would take far more pleasure sipping a delectable fine wine than wasting my precious time with the likes of you and that … little fiend of yours.” Harvus straightened, examining his gloved fingers. “However, I am a man of my word, and since I have promised your esteemed great-grandmother that I will look after you, well, I suppose I must endure your ignorance and unruliness for a little while longer. Of course, she also owes me a lot of money, but between you and I, that will be remedied one way or another.” He winked.
    Augum froze, wondering what he meant by that. Then he firmly pointed at his mouth.
    “Oh, you wish to speak? All right. Just be sure it is something worthy of discussion, else you will truly regret it.” Harvus made an idle gesture and Augum felt his throat loosen.
    “I won’t let you get away with this—”
    “Now that is worthy of discussion, my dear boy, for let me tell you precisely why nothing will come of this. You see—” Harvus placed his gloved hands on Augum’s shoulders, breathing his rotten rat stench into Augum’s face.
    “If you do not behave yourself, my dear boy, I am going to take that Agonex and disappear. In fact—” He reached behind Augum with one arm and stripped him of his rucksack, maintaining his grip on Augum’s shoulders. “I am going to keep both the Orb of Orion and the Agonex, at least until I get paid. Should I hear even a single word of complaint, I shall—” He made a small sweeping gesture here. “— poof , disappear, never to be heard from again, and not even your legendary great-grandmother can stop me, for I have learned long ago how to evade those searching for me.”
    Harvus let go of Augum’s shoulders with a slight jerk, holding the rucksack with two fingers as if it had been fouled. He glanced over at his sodden hairpiece. “You are going to clean my hairpiece thoroughly. After, you may go to supper. Then you are going to help build us a new cabin. And you will do it obediently without uttering a single whining word of complaint. And tomorrow, you are going to happily study, for we must keep up appearances, is that not so?”
    Harvus took a step closer as Augum glared at him mutinously. “If I discover any kind of … rebelliousness, or … filthiness … or anything of that nature, I assure you, I can be quite mean, and not just to you, but to that little disgusting harlot. Now get