Chapter 6 #7
“The Remdragon Knights are here! The lord has returned!” An archer on the ramparts lowered his bow and shouted down to them.
Icy silence swept across the grounds, the intruders all halting in their tracks to look behind them in disbelief. Sure enough, knights clad in silver armor thundered down the hill toward them.
When Maxi saw the man leading the charge, she was overcome with pride. Her gaze fixed, unwavering, on Riftan, who exuded an effortless confidence as he galloped toward the gates of Anatol. Though they had spent only three weeks apart, the separation had felt like months.
Riftan and his men slowed to a stop in front of the gates and appraised the black-robed Livadonian knights. Beneath his dark, wind-tousled hair, Riftan’s eyes narrowed menacingly.
“I didn’t think I’d have guests while I was away.” He raised a hand and gestured for the Remdragon Knights to surround Rob Midahas and his men, swords gleaming brilliantly under the sun. “What do we call uninvited guests?”
“Trespassers, sir.”
“Thieves, more like.”
His men barked answers as they reined in their excited steeds.
Maxi looked on with bated breath. The Livadonians, who had seemed so self-assured earlier, shifted uneasily.
Riftan spurred his horse closer. “You had the nerve to come to my land and stir up trouble. I know just the thing to have engraved on your tombstone. ‘In memory of his boldness, foolishness, and disregard for his own life.’ ”
Riftan’s voice was chillingly soft. Slowly, almost leisurely, he drew his sword, and the unhurried gesture was enough to make the assailants pale in terror.
Their leader quickly lowered his weapon and addressed Riftan directly. “I-I am Lord Rob Midahas of Kaysa! A nobleman of Livadon!”
“A lord?” Riftan raised an eyebrow.
Encouraged by his patient response, Midahas began to speak with more confidence. “Your people have offended me by questioning my identity and refusing me entry. This little misunderstanding simply got out of hand, that’s all!”
“A misunderstanding, you say?” Riftan’s words hung ominously in the air as he took in the destroyed gate and injured guards on the ground.
Midahas grimaced. “I-I apologize for letting my anger get the better of me. W-Why don’t we end things here? I’m sure you wouldn’t want things to get more unruly than they already have.”
“This was an act of war.” Riftan’s calm voice sent shivers through the crowd of onlookers.
He slowly approached Midahas, baring his teeth in a wolfish grin, and the Remdragon Knights parted to make way for him.
“You came to my gates and attacked my men. What could that mean if not war? I have every right to cut off your head, ride to your homeland, and bring it to ruin.”
“D-Do you mean to break the armistice between the Seven Kingdoms? Our king won’t stand for such an attack!”
“You lost its protection the moment you broke down my gate.”
A chill ran through Maxi’s body, and she wrapped her arms around herself, sensing that Riftan’s collected manner was only the calm before the storm.
Midahas must have realized the same, because the rest of his color drained from his face.
He hastily made to retreat, but before he could move, Sir Obaron blocked his path with his blade.
With the panic of a cornered rat, Midahas made another attempt to defuse the situation.
“I-I have hundreds of knights in Kaysa who are pledged to my service! If you kill me, you will truly have a war on your hands!”
“I very much look forward to it.” Riftan raised his sword.
Ruth dashed toward him. “Sir Riftan! You mustn’t kill this man. If he really is a noble, that will be trouble. It’s best to deal with him after we’ve confirmed his identity and sent word to Liva—”
“Are you questioning my decision?” Riftan furrowed his brow slightly, unmoved by the sorcerer’s words.
“A war will only bring loss. It’s best to use diplomacy. We may even receive compensation for—”
“I disagree.” Riftan waved off Ruth’s advice. “What need is there for diplomacy? Pillaging his land is a far less complicated solution.”
He seemed entirely unbothered by the knights here with Midahas, or the hundreds more he would find in Kaysa.
Ruth let out a sigh. “It won’t just be Kaysa. An attack of that scale would mean coming into conflict with the whole of Livadon.” As he spoke, he glanced at Maxi, who had been hiding amid the guards. “Think of her ladyship. You should show her the chivalry befitting a knight of your caliber.”
Riftan’s scowl deepened, and he followed Ruth’s gaze. When he saw Maxi still slumped on the ground, his eyes widened in shock, and his impassive face turned hostile. “Why is my wife here?”
“It’s only natural that the Lady of Anatol would handle disputes such as these while her husband is absent.” Ruth was unfazed by Riftan’s quiet wrath.
One moment, Riftan was gritting his teeth. The next, he was holding the tip of his sword to Midahas’s neck. “Dismount your horses and surrender your weapons. Comply, and I’ll allow you to keep your heads.”
“L-Let me go! I’ll leave at once! I’ll never—”
“You’re begging for me to release you after you attacked my people?” Riftan’s fury reached its boiling point. “No. Surrender or die where you stand. Choose.”
Midahas twisted around, eyes wild as he assessed the situation. His knights were completely surrounded. Realizing they stood little chance of escape—much less victory—he threw his sword to the ground and dismounted. After his men followed suit, Riftan signaled to the guards.
“Bind them and throw them in the dungeons!”
Maxi heaved a sigh of relief, astonished that Riftan’s arrival was enough to put an end to the confrontation without any more bloodshed.
A guard helped her to her feet. “Are you all right, my lady? Are you hurt?”
“What were you thinking?!”
Maxi froze, petrified in the shadow of her husband. He towered over her atop his horse, silhouetted by the sun at his back. It was difficult to make out his face like this, but she knew that he was furious.
She shrank back in fear. “I-I heard th-there was a problem…”
“And what the hell did you think you could do about it?”
Maxi’s blood ran cold, and she quickly lowered her head to hide her shame. Riftan had treated her with such kindness before he left, but now he spoke to her with such derision that it stole the breath from her lungs.
“I-I…” She bit her lip and desperately tried to come up with an answer, but her mind was blank. He was right. She knew that. There was nothing she could have done to salvage the situation. Why did she even try?
Riftan muttered a stream of curses, then lifted her off the ground by her waist. She yelped in surprise as he placed her in front of him on his saddle.
“I’m returning to the castle first.” He turned to address his knights. “Clean up this mess.”
And without waiting for a reply, he took off. Villagers who had gathered to watch from afar scrambled to make way, and Maxi clung for purchase on the saddle and squeezed her eyes shut. Riftan’s arm around her waist tightened, and the cold edges of his armor dug into her side painfully.
He must be angry because I interfered when it wasn’t my place to do so.
Maxi’s entire body shook. Angry men frightened her, and the thought of a man as immense as Riftan admonishing her drained the blood from her face.
Violence was not the only thing she feared. The man who was so kind to her had suddenly turned cold, and her heart ached like never before. She had to suppress the urge to beg him not to hate her.
When they reached the castle, Riftan dismounted and helped Maxi down. “Take my hand.”
She hesitantly placed her hand in his, and he lifted her off the horse. But instead of setting her down, he kept her in his arms and carried her across the garden. He ignored the servants who had rushed out to greet them, save for uttering a single, icy order.
“Send Talon to the stables.”
Riftan strode into the great hall, marching up the stairs without sparing a single glance at the space she had spent weeks renovating. He was livid.
Maxi swallowed hard and hesitantly spoke. “R-Riftan…P-Please put m-me down.”
“Shut your mouth.”
He climbed two steps at a time. Though he had traveled for days in full armor, he showed no sign of fatigue, and set Maxi back on her feet only after they reached the bedroom.
Maxi anxiously looked up at him. Would he berate her? Strike her? She had only tried to settle a conflict as the lady of the castle.
Hands clenched in her skirt, she was just about to speak when Riftan pressed his mouth to hers.
“Mmph!”
Her eyes widened. A cold armored hand slid into her hair and pulled her in. Sweet, chapped lips rubbed against her own, and his wet tongue slid inside the softness of her mouth.
Maxi gripped Riftan’s arms. She pressed tightly against his armor, and the stubble on his chin chafed her skin. When their mouths parted, she gasped for air, looking up at Riftan. He stared at her with a hardened expression as he grabbed her face with both hands.
“What were you going to do if I hadn’t arrived?” he demanded.
Maxi shuddered at the touch of cold steel on her skin. “I d-didn’t think they’d b-break through the gates…”
“You shouldn’t have been there in the first place!” Riftan snapped. “Never, ever put yourself in danger again. Do you understand?”
Maxi quickly nodded, which seemed to placate him.
His shoulders relaxed and he let out a long sigh.
After hesitating for a few moments, Maxi caressed his chin, and Riftan leaned his finely shaped forehead against hers.
His hair smelled faintly of grass, and Maxi wondered if he had slept in a meadow the night before.
“My blood ran cold when I saw you out there, on the ground. Damn it! I didn’t ride day and night to find you like that.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Riftan’s tone remained stern, but the dangerous chill was gone from it. “If I’d arrived just seconds later, things could have been so much worse. Damn it…”