“I have not given you permission to leave yet,” he snapped, his voice slashing the air like a whip.
Idsilla stiffened, and Maxi edged closer to the girl’s back to hide from the dark shadow looming over them.
Riftan’s deep voice resonated close to her. “You, the one in the back. How many times must I tell you to raise your head?”
Idsilla nervously cleared her throat. “Sir knight…a female cleric cannot reveal her face to a man.”
Riftan glared at her. “I was not addressing you.”
“We are clerics under the church’s protection,” Idsilla replied, her voice surprisingly firm. “We cannot violate the doctrines of our faith, even if it is a knight who commands us. We pray for your understanding.”
Somehow, the girl remained calm in the face of Riftan’s intimidating presence. If she had not been so terrified, Maxi would have admired her forit.
After a suffocating silence, Riftan finally spoke. “Very well. You may go.”
Maxi almost sank to the ground in relief. Clutching Maxi by the arms, Idsilla turned them both around and was about to retreat when a force abruptly yanked Maxi’s hood off her head.
The ambush had come from nowhere, and Maxi was too surprised to stop it. Her hood was wrenched back, and another strong hand spun her body around.
Maxi looked up at Riftan, her eyes wide with both panic and desperation to take in the sight of him. His gaze swept over her from head to foot as though he could not believe what he was seeing. Water dripped from his wet hair and landed on her cheeks. Maxi felt a burning flush color her pale face.
While she looked no better than a beggar, Riftan was asbeautiful as a water god who had just risen from a sacred lake. His wet hair glistened like dark blue satin, and his muscular torso gleamed red in the glow of the setting sun. Even in the nerve-racking tension, Maxi could not tear her gaze away from the face of her husband whom she had not seen in months.
Riftan seemed equally transfixed, and his eyes swept hungrily over her as he let out a choked groan.
“By God, why are you…”
His trembling fingers touched her cheek, and for a moment, Maxi foolishly thought that he might be pleased that she was here. However, his eyes soon hardened and flashed with rage.
“What in the devil are you doing here?” he growled savagely, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Who brought you here?! What were you thinking coming to such—”
“D-Do not be angry with her, sir!” Idsilla interjected, stopping Riftan from bellowing like a madman.
His fiery gaze flew to Idsilla, and the girl desperately tried to defend Maxi despite visibly trembling with fear.
“Lady Calypse is here because of me,” Idsilla said, her voice quivering. “I told her of my intentions to join the support unit, and—”
“Th-That is not true!” Maxi cried. “I-It was…my choice to come. I just…could not sit by and w-wait any longer….”
“You chose to come here?”
Riftan’s livid eyes returned to her, his whole body tense with barely contained fury. Maxi snapped her mouth shut. Her handsome husband, whom she had been dying to catch a mere glimpse of all this time, looked as vicious as a lion from hell.
“Does the duke know you’re here?” he barked. “What fool allowed you to join the support unit?”
“N-No one knows…that I am here,” Maxi answered weakly, running her tongue in vain across her dry lips. “I-I hid my identity…and…secretly joined the p-party as a female cleric.”
Riftan’s rage seemed to surpass the limit that could be expressed in words. More than once, he opened his mouth as if to yell, only to clench his jaw like a man dredging up the last of his restraint.
Before long, his face smoothed to a cold, blank mask. It was not a good sign. Maxi knew that this calm and silence meant that he was at the peak of his anger.
After icily staring at Maxi’s ashen face, Riftan turned to Idsilla once again. “You were the one who helped her?”
“I-Idsilla…did nothing wrong,” Maxi choked out. “I chose to—”
“Keep your mouth shut.”
Maxi helplessly hung her head like a criminal standing trial. After rubbing his face and taking a deep breath, Riftan glanced behind him. The soldiers who had come after Idsilla stood awkwardly among the trees.
