Chapter 7
The sound of firewood tossed into the fireplace woke Maxi.
It was dark beyond the window, and she blinked sleepily as she looked around the room.
Riftan stood in front of the fire, and she quickly untangled herself from the blankets to sit up.
He looked as if he had just finished bathing and was dressed in a fresh black tunic.
When he heard Maxi stir, his head turned to look at her.
“You’re a light sleeper,” Riftan said, a faint smile on his lips.
Maxi shook her head. “I d-didn’t even n-notice you g-getting up to wash.”
“I wanted to wait until you were awake so we could bathe together, but I had to go interrogate those damned Livadonians.”
He walked toward the bed and planted a kiss on her bare shoulder. Blushing, Maxi looked up at him, her eyes searching his face with worry.
“Y-You interrogated them?”
“Yes. I even summoned a cleric to confirm their leader’s identity.”
“A-And? W-Were his claims t-true?” Maxi asked cautiously.
Riftan frowned. “He’s a Livadonian noble.”
Maxi’s heart skipped a painful beat. Had she made a mistake? The situation might not have escalated so dangerously if she had just allowed Rob Midahas entry.
Riftan soothingly brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her cheek.
“He is a Livadonian noble, but he lied about his claim to Kaysa. He’s not the lord, but one of the lord’s sons.
When his half-brother was chosen as heir, he stole his family heirloom and fled to Wedon.
I assume he was roaming around with his knights when he heard about the vast collection of treasures I’d gathered from the dragon’s lair. ”
“D-Did he c-come here to h-harm you?”
Riftan considered her with a blank expression, then laughed. “He’s not that bold. He just never thought I’d make it from Drachium to Anatol in eight days. It was a grave miscalculation.”
Maxi remembered Ruth telling her that it would take at least ten days for Riftan to arrive in Anatol. Riftan had beat the sorcerer’s prediction by two full days.
“I arrived at just the right moment,” Riftan said, still stroking her hair. “If I had come a day or two later, things could have been much worse. Midahas had three high-ranking knights with him, and they brought a magical device. It wouldn’t have taken them long to break our defenses.”
“M-Magical device?”
“His family heirloom.” Riftan’s mouth pressed into a grim line. “The device contains powerful fire magic—that’s what destroyed the gate. Since the knights were away, Midahas thought he had a chance. If he had managed to succeed and fled back to Livadon, tracking him down would not have been easy.”
Maxi put a hand on his arm, trying to calm his growing wrath as he had soothed her worry. Rob Midahas may have been foolish, but harming a nobleman could easily lead to conflict.
Riftan gazed down at her and smiled bitterly. “I should have beheaded him and hung his head outside the castle walls to set an example. But you were right. That would have meant leaving you again for war.”
“Th-Then…”
“I shall send a message to his father as soon as the sun rises, demanding compensation. And I’ll tell him to rein in his son.”
Maxi breathed a relieved sigh, and Riftan smiled. As he kissed her from her shoulder to her cheek, his damp hair emitted a sweet, flowery fragrance. Recalling Ruth’s comment about how the knights disliked scented soaps, Maxi stifled a laugh.
“What are you laughing at?” Riftan looked at her questioningly.
“Y-Your hair smells like r-roses.”
Riftan blushed, fidgeting with his hair. “I figured you’d like me to smell nice….”
Maxi’s chest tightened. In the early days, his crude language and imposing figure had frightened her, made her anxious that he might be as violent as her father. She never expected to one day find him so endearing.
“I suppose it’s not becoming of a man.” Riftan sniffed himself sheepishly.
Maxi gazed at him silently for a moment, then stood up on her knees and planted a kiss on his cheek. Riftan tensed and, blushing, Maxi placed another kiss on his jaw.
“I-It smells nice. It’s n-not unbecoming of a m-man.”
“If you like it, then I’ll use this soap for the rest of my days.”
Riftan slid his hand to her waist and pulled her into a kiss. When he gently squeezed her breast with his other hand, Maxi pushed him away.
“W-We’ve already…”
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
She had kissed him because she was overwhelmed by a rush of affection for him, not to seduce him. After such an intense round of lovemaking, that was the last thing on her mind.
“I-I wasn’t trying to—”
“You fanned the flames yourself, Maxi,” Riftan said, ignoring her. He kissed her with swelling passion and began to strip off his clothes.
Riftan climbed back onto the bed and lowered himself onto her, and Maxi’s body went limp under the desire in his kiss. He entered her gently, and this time, there was more pleasure than pain. When it was over, she wound her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
—
The following day, Riftan left at dawn to deal with the Livadonian intruders, but it was not until well past noon when Maxi awoke again. With Ludis’s assistance, she bathed and dressed, worried that Riftan was not resting enough. He had only just returned from a long journey, after all.
Ludis stopped brushing her hair. “Is something wrong, my lady?”
Maxi shook her head. “N-No, it’s n-nothing.”
“The sorcerer says he will tend to your wounds. Should I call for him now?”
“Th-This is hardly a w-wound,” Maxi said with quiet exasperation as she traced the scratch along her knee and shin.
She had scraped her leg when she stumbled during the commotion; it was nothing.
The guards who clashed with the Livadonians would have suffered far more serious injuries.
Some had been crushed by the ruined castle gate, and many others were slashed by enemy swords.
It would not do for Maxi to raise a fuss over something so minor.
“I d-don’t think th-that will be n-necessary.”
“But, my lady, it could leave a scar—” Ludis stopped herself midprotest and pressed her lips together, worried that she had spoken out of turn. “As you wish, my lady,” she amended. “I’ll ask the sorcerer for some ointment.”
“Thank you, L-Ludis,” said Maxi.
Later, when Ludis returned with fresh bandages and a vial of ointment, Maxi dutifully applied the ointment and dressed the wound to keep it clean. She did not think her scratch warranted bandages, but it was easier to use them than to refuse under the watchful eyes of the maidservant.
“I’ll bring your meal to your room, my lady,” said Ludis once Maxi finished tending to her scraped leg.
“Th-That’s all right. I’ll h-have it in th-the dining hall. I should f-finish my work from y-yesterday.”
“The lord instructed that you are to stay in bed today.”
Maxi frowned. It was true that their nighttime adventures had worn her out—but not so much that she needed bed rest.
“I’m f-fine,” Maxi insisted. “I was j-just a little sh-shaken by yesterday’s e-events.”
“But the lord…”
“I-I’ll talk t-to him.” Maxi draped a warm shawl over her shoulders, preparing to leave.
With Maxi stubbornly set against staying in bed, Ludis could only nod silently and follow as she left the room. Crisp air flowed in through the open windows, and Maxi’s eyes roved over the clean windowsills and new carpets as she made her way down the corridor.
“D-Did the l-lord say anything about th-the castle?”
Behind her, Ludis shifted in discomfort. “I’m sure he hasn’t had the time to give the renovations a proper look, on account of yesterday’s commotion.”
“I-I see.” Maxi’s face fell with disappointment.
Ludis flashed one of her rare smiles and quickly added, “But the knights were astonished. When they came into the great hall for dinner last night, they said that the castle had been transformed magnificently.”
“R-Really?”
Ludis nodded, and Maxi continued downstairs with a spring in her step. Servants paused in their work polishing the windows to greet her, and Maxi nodded to them all as she headed into the dining hall.
Ruth and three Remdragon Knights looked up from their lunch when she entered. Maxi froze, suddenly uncertain.
Unless it was a special occasion, the knights usually had their breakfast and lunch in their quarters. She had never encountered them here during Riftan’s absence, and she found herself standing in place, feeling awkward.
Ruth yawned loudly and leisurely addressed her. “Good day, my lady. How are your injuries?”
“It was j-just a s-scratch.”
The sorcerer looked Maxi up and down while he ran his fingers through his perpetually messy hair. “The way Sir Riftan reacted,” he said flatly, “I thought you’d broken a bone. But you do seem all right.” Ruth pulled out the chair beside him. “Please have a seat, my lady.”
Before Maxi could protest, Ruth instructed a servant to bring her food.
Having lost her chance to leave, she glanced at the knights’ faces before taking her seat.
Silence hung over the hall, and Maxi anxiously waited for her meal to arrive.
Unable to bear the awkward quiet, she broke it with a question.
“W-Where is R-Riftan?”
“He’s at the gates, checking on the progress of the repairs,” Ruth grumbled, tearing off a piece of bread with his teeth.
“He summoned blacksmiths and craftsmen to build a steel gate. And that’s not all.
He also wants a defensive magical device installed.
He’s always been obsessed with the defense of Calypse Castle, but that dim-witted noble, Midahas, has made it worse. ”
“Th-The safer the b-better,” Maxi said brightly, relieved to have a topic to discuss.
Ruth scowled. “I will need to create said device. I’ll be worked to death at this rate.”