46. Riggs
RIGGS
Hours later, the late afternoon sun shone fiercely, its rays beaming down full force.
Riggs panted, gripping the collar of his tunic for ventilation.
The slightest breeze brushed along his dampened chest, and his eyes fluttered shut.
He was ready to rip his shirt off, but he couldn’t risk it.
He’d rather not get sunburnt and ruin his tan.
His golden skin was already a shade darker, and he planned on achieving the ultimate glow.
Lids fluttering open, Riggs' sweaty palms clung to Storm’s reins. They trotted toward the bright city of Starfall Canyon, also known as Sulu city. The largest merchant trade site. Almost everyone traveled here to sell goods. It was how his father met Kohen—how he landed his biggest account.
Esemeray shifted in his arms, pulling his thoughts away. Riggs hummed, assessing the empty streets. Where’s everyone at?
Without the market tents, it looked like a ghost town. The only sound was the whistling wind tugging at the tapestries that hung along wooden posts stretching for miles, and leading toward the temple.
A fierce three headed tiger roaring, and a small red desert rose decorated the flags signaling they had officially made it.
Riggs' cheeks slackened, his chest expanding. The rose. The flower only bloomed once a decade, making it incredibly rare to see. Still, to this day, Riggs hadn’t had the luck to witness the bloom.
He’d found a grove of the buds but had to leave empty handed.
Only those who had Rhabari blood could pick the flower, any others would be cursed for eternity.
For hundreds of years the Rhabari made potions and healing tonics with the bud, making Kohen’s temple home to the greatest medicine on the continent.
And home to the largest library. Healers around the world traveled to study their secrets, but if they weren’t part of their bloodline they were turned away.
The Rhabari forbid outsiders from learning any of their sacred techniques.
Riggs didn’t blame them. He would have done the same thing.
His research was for his eyes only until he figured out how to cure someone with ammit blood, then he would share it.
He could save thousands of people. If not more.
The glittering golden temple in the distance blinded him as they approached Sulu city.
Riggs sighed in relief knowing they had made it, but this was only the beginning of their journey.
The hardest part was deciding what route to take.
Luckily for Killian, Riggs took the incentive to map out two routes through the snow lands.
Either boating or trotting along Dark Water Lake. Both were equally terrifying.
“How are you holding up?” Killian asked as he surveyed him. “You look pale.”
Riggs felt lethargic from lack of water, but he played it off with a grin. “I’m fine,” he lied. He felt like shit and he knew he was entering a state of dehydration. He’d given Esemeray the last of his water.
I’d do it all again, too, if it meant she was okay.
A gush of wind was soothing at first, but soon turned painful. Sand crashed against his face, Riggs reached for his mask and covered himself. Glancing down, his chest fluttered as he eyed Esemeray still sleeping against him. Her face was tucked into the side of his arm, snoozing like a baby.
He hoped the gusts wouldn’t wake her. She needed to rest. The side effects from the soup were already taking its toll.
Effects can last up to twenty-four hours: increased sensitivity, heightened emotions, extreme fatigue.
Other than Killian being a brooding asshole, it explained why she had cried, and then fell asleep minutes later. Riggs cradled her head with his arm, securing her from jostling around.
“It’s picking up fast!” Killian shouted over the whipping gale, “I think a storm is coming!”
“I should wake her to shift,” Riggs said, raising his voice.
Killian assessed Esemeray. “No, let her be. I doubt Kohen knows who she is.”
“Fuck…” Riggs mumbled, trying to see through the haze.
He hated dust storms, not only did they fucking hurt, but if the temperature was right, a tornado could spawn and they would be sucked to their death.
The temple, once shining bright, was now clouded by dust. Smells of earth rose with another gust whipping harder than the last.
“We need to get to the temple gates as soon as possible. This storm is going to get bad soon!” Killian bellowed, his black mask blowing in the drift as he went racing forward. Riggs followed, and just as Storm always did, she flew.
The storm calmed into a steady breeze as the skies descended into a deep golden orange.
Riggs could almost see the north star glittering above, shining among the clay-colored clouds.
He pulled his gaze from the sky and stared at the temple gates.
Riggs' brows rose. He almost forgot how intricate the carvings were. It’s as if they had been made with magic.
Stunning leaves and those same desert roses carved deep into the unmarred metal.
Riggs couldn’t wrap his head around how they forged such a delicacy.
Granted, some of the most powerful beings in Razareth lived within these gates.
Goosebumps spread across Riggs back. There was one woman who out ranked everyone in the temple.
Izara.
“Stop right there!” the captain of the temple guards shouted in Rhabari, breaking Riggs' admiration. Eight additional guards, covered head to toe in armor, stood by the gates gripping the hilts of their yellow long swords.
The captain was easy to identify with his long, bright-blue feather on his helmet. Riggs chuckled at the way the feather flapped in the wind like a floppy sock.
Killian glared at Riggs, then responded in the Rhabari tongue, “We are here on behalf of Rhidian Whitlock; we have a meeting with Kohen,” Killian said, pointing to the wooden crate, “for a sword delivery.”
The captain nodded to his guards, approaching the crate for the customary inspection. Killian unmounted, approaching with a key in hand. “I’ll need to unlock it.” The same key Killian would never let Riggs hold.
Esemeray moved, her head shifting on his forearm as she let out the softest moan he’d ever heard. Her eyes fluttered underneath her lids, as if she were dreaming. He sighed, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear. Even asleep, she managed to steal his breath.
Her eyes cracked open, making Riggs' heart skip.
“How long was I out for?” Esemeray asked, her voice groggy.
His gaze softened, noticing her irises were a shade lighter than normal. “Only a few hours.”
Esemeray rubbed the corners of her eyes and yawned. “I don’t remember falling asleep.” Jolting, she whipped her gaze toward Killian, inhaling deeply as she watched him speak to the guards.
Riggs wanted to ask what truly happened between them, but he already had an idea. Esemeray’s power. A power he would soon figure out. “Did you sleep well?”
She leaned into his touch and smiled. “I did. Thank you.”
“All clear! Send them up,” the guard reported.
Esemeray’s head tilted. “I have never heard that language before.”
Riggs' lip grazed the shell of her ear as he whispered, “It’s the Rhabari language, princess.” Killian and Riggs learned at a young age how to speak their common tongue, their father spending endless nights teaching them until they were able to speak fluently.
When Riggs questioned why, his father said, “For business purposes.” Nevertheless, it paid off.
Killian mounted his stallion, giving Riggs a nod and a look that said, “Focus and stop flirting, idiot.” Riggs waved him off, rolling his eyes.
Four guards on either side of the gate pushed with force, all grunting despite their best efforts to appear unaffected. Riggs knew if they had not been wearing full faced helmets he would see their veins bulging.
He knew the gate weighed a ton. Something Kohen specifically did on purpose.
“Where are we?” Esemeray asked, wide-eyed as she took in the temple, the massive building looking as if it had been made with all the gold in the world.
“This is the city of Starfall,” Riggs said, pointing to the golden beauty, “and that is Kohen’s temple. He has one of the biggest libraries on the continent. If he allows us entry, there’s something I would like to show you.”
Esemeray turned, her eyes gleaming. “It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before. It’s divine.”
His jaw fluttered as he scanned her delicate, radiant face. “The true beauty is you, Esemeray.”
She grazed his chin. “You are the biggest flirt.”
But Riggs wasn’t flirting, not like he normally would be. The way the orange tones highlighted her glow made his heart flutter. If we were alone, I’d kiss every inch of her skin, starting with her lips.
“C’mon, Rigsby, let’s go,” Killian ordered, galloping ahead.
Right. Riggs looked ahead, praying for a quick exchange. Riggs would rather eat dirt containing a blood-eating virus than run into Izara. Riggs cringed. That would be awful—undeniably awful.