Under the Oak Tree, Volume 1 by Suji Kim

Author:Suji Kim [Kim, Suji]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Published: 2024-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

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.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.