Chapter 20
Ryzen
I had forgotten how wonderful Bastian's company was and hadn’t realized I’d missed it.
Bastian was from Riveria and his father was close with mine, so both Rorcan and I knew him well, seeing as we spent a lot of time together as kids. We did not discuss matters of the state at dinner, rather spent that time catching up on all the things that had transpired since the last time I was here.
Halfway through dinner, Bas asked me if he wanted to cut it short and go out for drinks. We always frequented a pub here whenever I was in town and I didn’t see the harm in it, so I agreed.
But I thought it rude that we had already left out Lyn from our conversation for most of the time that I invited her along. Bas cast me a surprised, albeit a little warning look. I thought nothing of it as Lyn politely refused.
I would have insisted had it not been for the fact that both Bas and I would probably be too drunk to notice if something went wrong. So we both bid her goodnight and left on our steeds.
And now here we were, half drunk and roaring with laughter.
“You were such an idiot back then,” Bas said on a laugh and I snorted.
“Oh because you were such a saint,” I retorted, thinking of the plenty of times Bas, Rorcan and I had spent our evenings in the company of beautiful women. “You were the most shameless of the three of us.”
“Not true,” he huffed after gulping down his rum. “I believe that was you.”
I gave him a vulgar gesture and after a moment of staring at me he said, “So, what of Ms. Alcoff?”
“What about her?” I asked too casually.
“Don’t pretend,” he chortled. “That look you gave me at the docks was nothing but a clear warning.”
I didn’t speak.
“Have you two..?”
“No,” I rushed, not entirely sure why this was bothering me.
“Well, if you aren’t interested, I would certainly like to try my luck.”
I glared at him before saying, “Back to being a prick are you?”
He threw his arms up as he said, “I don’t see you claiming her. You barely looked at her during dinner.”
I banged my hand on the table and hissed, “You are not to touch her.”
He contemplated me for a moment, his gaze narrowed, his dark skin seeming to glow in the dull firelight. I didn’t back down.
“As you wish milord,” he said flatly before roughly getting up from his chair.
I drank up the rest of my rum and slightly staggered back to the estate. Bastian was long gone.
~
When I got to the estate, it was dark and quiet. No servants milling about or a single firelight to be seen.
As I got to my room at the end of the hallway, I heard faint voices coming from around the corner.
Alerted by the female voice I heard, I skipped the rest of the way, telling myself to calm down, the rum working its way to my head. Lyn.
I found Bastian at her door, trying to nudge his way in.
“BASTARD!”
In that moment, I knew nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing. The rage was the only thing that existed, the gold fury that was set alight. I vaguely registered how my power seared his skin as he writhed as I punched him and he screamed.
There was another scream, one that I didn’t want to acknowledge but somewhere, something told me I had to.
Lyn.
My vision was no longer a wall of red and I could hear the pounding of my heart in my ears, my blood struggling to calm down. The golden wisps around me shining their brightest as Bastian scrambled away. Half of his face was a gory shade of red. I had burned him, I realized, when I punched him.
When I turned around, chest heaving, my eyes set on Callyn, shuddering in her nightgown as she gaped at me, tears lining her eyes.
“Ryzen,” she rasped and that was all it took.
All it took for me to pull her to me, smoothing down her hair.
“We’re leaving,” I said into her hair. “Now.”
To be continued…
Well you can't hold it back for long 😛