Algardis Series Boxed Set

by Terah Edun

  Determined to watch him more carefully, Mae turned her gaze fully on Rivan as she resolutely said, “I would have thought of something.”

  “You would have done nothing but bumble over your clumsy feet,” he said with a disgusted look. “Now keep your head down and stop making hasty plans. We all will pay for whatever it was that you thought to do…including your sister.”

  Mae guiltily flicked her gaze over to the sister he meant.

  “I’m doing the best I can, for her and for me…and may I remind you, this is your fault. If you hadn’t kidnapped us in the first place, we wouldn’t be out here,” she said defensively.

  "Are you forgetting the fact that you were running for your lives when we found you?” Rivan asked dryly.

  Mae shrugged.

  “A mere momentary distraction. We would have gotten away,” she said with a confidence she didn’t feel.

  “Okay, enough of this bravado,” was all Rivan said as he switched his grip from her wrist to her waist. Presumably because it gave him more power over her, allowing him to quickly smash her side against his and making sure she wasn’t moving, whether she liked it or not.

  “Let me go!” Mae whispered, incensed.

  “No,” Rivan said shortly. “I can tell you’re a fool just by looking at you. You haven’t heard a word I said and worse you think your human lies aren’t horse manure I can smell a mile off.

  “You say that like you’re something I’m not,” Mae responded so fast she didn’t have much time to think about the fact that he’d just call her a liar to her face.

  “We are nowhere near the same,” Rivan said with what Mae could only described as a snarl as he yanked her back almost to the tree line. It was shady enough for privacy but not enough to get them more than a few feet away from the newest visitors to their little clearing. Who, after a few hard looks, seemed content to let them be. Maybe they thought they were scared lovers seeking shelter from the brigands. As long as they didn’t try to run off, the interlopers probably didn’t care either.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Mae protested hotly.

  Rivan said wryly, “Since I can’t trust you to keep your word and not run off, I’m making sure you stay put.”

  “Get your hands off,” Mae snapped.

  “No. Like I said anything stupid that you do is going to negatively affect the whole lot of us,” Rivan said in disgust.

  “Yeah, you said that already,” Mae replied. “Get to the part where I care about you.”

  Rivan stepped toward her with one hand raised in a claw-like gesture. The other hand was still wrapped so tightly about her waist that she wondered if she was going to have problems breathing soon. The look on his face, one of pure fury, stopped her from doing something insane like objecting however. In fact, she almost felt like whimpering as she shrank back and struggled to keep her wits about her.

  The only thing that kept her standing strong instead of cowering was that she wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction of knowing he intimidated her.

  She wasn’t sure it worked until he stopped glowering at her. In fact, he was still all over for a minute as he just stared at her, his face a mixture of confusion and lingering anger.

  Then he did something she had never seen anyone raised with the smallest of manners do to someone else. He sniffed her. He didn’t just take a whiff either. Rivan took a deep yanking breath as he leaned into it and almost closed his eyes as he let his other sensory perceptions take hold. When he finally leaned back and opened his half-closed eyes, Mae was watching him warily.

  She waited for him to act weirdly again. Do something that inched him one step closer in her mind to inhuman. It wasn’t his words or his gestures in this case. It was what he did when it seemed like he stopped fighting his internal desires. As if whatever he thought he should be doing was fighting against the very nature of who he was and in those rare instances…his nature won out.

  This had been one of those times but like before Mae wasn’t precisely sure what came next.

  Instead of tightening his grip or conjuring magic though, he spoke.

  “I’m sorry for frightening you,” Rivan finally replied.

  Simple words humbly said.

  She thought about lying and saying he hadn’t but whatever he saw on her face told her the bluff was up. So she nodded tightly, and he stepped back. Fully and without reserve as he composed his face…although it took a minute.

  “Maybe you were right,” Mae said in a small voice.

  “Good, glad you recognized that I know better than you,” he said in a superior tone. “Perhaps you’ll learn to listen now.”

  That was enough of that. Whereas before she’d been feeling uncertain, now she was incensed.

  She stepped so close he could have bit her nose off if he dared.

  “No, you’ll listen to me,” she said in a voice that only showed a slight tremble. “I’m only going to say this once, you’re not in charge here, I am. I have what you want. I have what you need.”

  He shot her a look so incredulous she was afraid he’d start laughing.

  Instead he said, “Well, I’ve learned two things today. You’re stupid and you’re unobservant.”

  Before she could protest, he continued, “What makes you think you have anything that I want? Here’s a lesson for you, just because I’m traveling with her doesn’t mean that Donna Marie’s motivations are not my own.”

  Mae frowned. “You’ve certainly been a silent partner as far as I can see. Never objecting. Never criticizing.”

  Rivan gave an easy shrug, “For now I’m just along for the ride. Soon enough I’ll be making my own way.”

  Before she could question him further though, one of the interlopers came toward him.

  “Hey, you two, over here now,” he commanded.

  It seemed that their time away was up.

  Casting a glance aside at Rivan, Mae elected to follow his lead. Then he gestured her forward. She walked out of the shadows and closer to the center of clearing, her mind whirling at the potential possibilities for escape.

  With or without anyone else by her side.

  7

  That didn’t mean she wasn’t still curious about what he’d meant.

  How soon should I make a run for it? She thought as she eyed him. Was he planning his escape even now?

  But whatever scheme he had to break away from his mistress, he wasn’t willing to share it with her.

  Instead Rivan pushed ahead of her as soon as they cleared the trees and made a beeline straight for the man who’d called them out.

  “What’s the problem?” Rivan complained.

  “Get back behind your leader,” the man snapped as he hit Rivan’s shoulder, causing the boy to stumble into Mae before she caught him reflexively.

  When Rivan was steady, once more he looked ready to charge back toward the interloper. This time it was her turn to restrain him as she grabbed onto Rivan’s arm to prevent him from getting them both seriously injured.

  “Whatever it is you’ve got up your sleeve, hold it until there’s not a ring of soldiers surrounding us with pikes at the ready,” Mae hissed urgently as she tried to restrain him almost to no avail.

  He was surprisingly strong. Stronger than she’d thought his wiry frame was capable of being seeing as she was no stranger to hard work and gauging the capabilities of others when necessary as well. Oh, Mae wasn’t allowed to do any of the real field work, but when the local servants were pressed into the drudge of crop production and herding, the family needed all the extra hands they could get in the stables and the paddocks of the greater holding.

  Which is where she and some of her more adventurous cousins had come in. They hadn’t minded being pressed into tasks that required them to be outdoors and even sweatier than a pig in roast. Mae had taken to sheep shearing herself. It required a deft hand and best of all, aside from the bleats of the sheep, it was almost a totally silent occupation as she caught each yearling within the
special guard and proceeded to do her task in solitude.

  But while she’d been out separating sheep from their coats, all of her cousins had been doing something else within the greater holding. Something that would allow them to profit and sell their wares to fill their grain stores for a harsh winter.

  Even young Garreth had been pressed into feeding the chickens, scooping up the eggs, and cleaning out the rabbit’s warren when needed.

  So when Mae grabbed onto Rivan’s upper bicep and felt the tension strength of someone who had done more than his share of labor, she was surprised. Because if anything he looked less like someone who knew his way around a farm implement and more like a boy who’d been coddled in his parent’s home.

  Maybe she had even gasped in surprise. Or had said something she didn’t remember.

  Whatever it was she’d done, Rivan turned to her with a furtive look on his face. He quickly yanked his body away from her touch, but he left his back open to attack and that’s precisely what the enforcer did.

  He rushed toward them as he yelled, “I said ‘get back behind your leader’!”

  Mae realized the enforcer thought Rivan’s actions were a snub against him when they were nothing of the sort. Panic surged through her as she quickly held up a hand and tried to explain that he was wrong.

  But he didn’t give her a chance.

  She only saw a blur moving toward her and the next thing she knew her world was on fire as that blur resolved into the enforcer with his arm raised and a metal baton coming straight down at her head.

  A direct hit.

  But not on her.

  It took her a moment to realize what had happened from where she now lay on the ground. Sometime in the seconds between the metal rod caving in her head and her death, Rivan had pushed her out of the way. She’d felt him shove her aside but the force was such that it seemed like she was being run over by a team of horses at the same time. Still it was clear he’d taken most of the blow with his own body, and since Mae had been shielded by him, she’d only felt a portion of the attack. Leaving her intact if bruised which was a much better outcome than she’d expected.

  Her face ashen as she stood up, frantically looking for the surely fatal wound on Rivan’s body…and the corresponding damage on hers. But the only thing that looked harmed was the severely dented baton in the enforcer’s hand. As she looked over to Rivan for something anything, a spot of blood, broken bones, there was nothing. But he didn’t look too surprised.

  Mae meanwhile was stupefied.

  I should be dead, she thought halfway between ecstasy and disbelief.

  There was no way around it. If the man had swung that rod with enough force for it to be dented her head should have popped open like a melon.

  But there’s not a scratch on me or Rivan, Mae thought as she side-eyed her savior.

  “He was off enough that I could conjure a quick shield,” Rivan said, quickly explained.

  Mae blinked.

  “Oh,” Mae said as she hesitantly took the hand he offered and stood up fully.

  Meanwhile the enforcer had managed to gather his wits about him and was now belligerently advancing on them.

  Gripping his dented baton with a furious look on his face, he bellowed, “You think you’re smart boy? I’m going to take my ruined weapon out on your hide!”

  Mae stumbled back in uncertainty. The enforcer didn’t look like he was joking at all. Meanwhile Rivan stepped forward with narrowed eyes. Fortunately before any further confrontation could commence, their leader stepped forward.

  “Thomas, fall back,” the man said firmly. The leader’s eyes, from what Mae could see, were hard. Thomas hesitated a moment but he did as he was commanded without a fuss. Which told Mae all she needed to know about the level of training these warriors had.

  “Yes, sir,” Thomas said as he stepped back in line.

  As he turned away with one last poisonous glance at Rivan, the Cross Guard leader said, “You two. No more heroics. Get back behind your mistress or I’ll beat you bloody myself.”

  With a shiver Mae grabbed Rivan’s shoulder and did as he bade. This time Rivan didn’t object. Maybe he saw the iron in the Cross Guard leader’s eyes just as clearly as she did. When they got to where they were going, Mae turned to Rivan with a hundred questions on her tongue.

  “What were you thinking?” Mae blurted out. “If you hadn’t called that shield up in time and he’d been willing to use more than just physical force, you would have been toast. Then to take him on a second time.”

  Rivan shrugged as he said with no little disgust, “Well, I wasn’t just going to let him beat me, was I?”

  Mae made a face.

  “I would have,” Mae muttered.

  “And you’d have been dead too,” Rivan said frankly. “Just as you would have failed with your little scheme to run away.”

  “Will you ever let that go?” Mae complained.

  “No,” Rivan said. “Because then as now you’re putting more than your own life in danger and you clearly have the survival skills of a day-old kitten.”

  Mae opened her mouth to object and then thought better of it. In one week she’d been nearly murdered and now kidnapped.

  So in truth…he was right.

  He may have been a superior, insufferable know-it-all but he clearly wasn’t an idiot and knew what he was talking about.

  “Fine,” she said with a sigh.

  Rivan blinked and narrowed his eyes at her.

  “Did you just agree with me?” he asked incredulously.

  Before the contrary nature locked within her won over the urge to run her mouth again, Mae said firmly “Yes, I did and there’s something more.”

  Rivan watched her with a cocked head until she waited so long that he impatiently said, “Well?”

  She nearly bit her tongue in half but she said it.

  “Thank you,” Mae said, then she clarified. “Thank you for saving my life.”

  Maybe he realized just how much effort it took her for say it or maybe he just appreciated her acknowledgement but a smile graced Rivan’s face for the first time that she’d seen. He gave her a slightly mocking bow and then he said, “You’re welcome.”

  If was as if a dam broke then. He started laughing. She started laughing. But when she looked around and saw only tense eyes all around the clearing, she quickly sobered up but Rivan let out a last lingering chuckle before he did the same.

  Meeting his eyes, Mae was quick to say, “Don’t think this makes us friends!”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” Rivan rejoined jovially.

  A companionable silence stretched between them and then there was nothing to do but wait but she couldn’t help it if her gaze strayed over and watched as he occasionally rubbed his shoulder when he thought no one was looking. She may have been laughing seconds before but her thoughts now weren’t filled with mirth. They were analyzing and wondering.

  If he conjured a shield, why does it look like he strained his muscles in the effort? Mae wondered silently.

  But there was no way she could ask and expect an answer. Even if she got one it would just open a tangle of problems that she couldn’t handle. Like why his shoulder wasn’t torn wide open with shattered bones everywhere if there hadn’t been a shield.

  Then the leader barked another order, for them to ‘stand here’, and Rivan was moving again to reluctantly do as the interloper demanded. And so was she. Both biding their time as they individually wondered what the other had planned. Neither trusted each other enough to open up and both were liable to hare off as the situation called for it. So you could say that the Rivan and Mae were eyeing the other with as much wry amusement as they were with situational awareness.

  That companionable ease didn’t last long though.

  Mae began to get nervous waiting but it wasn’t long before the leader waved his arm, a clear signal for the rest of his people to move forward into the clearing. He’d either deemed it safe to stop concealing all of
them or he thought it wasn’t worth the effort anymore. Either way a dozen or more trained warriors melted out of the forest and melted was the right word.

  Shock crossed Mae’s face when she realized that not only did he have so many people, but also, they had surrounded the clearing the whole time.

  “Rivan was right,” she muttered to herself dejectedly.

  “I’m sorry ‘Rivan was what?’ asked a voice suspiciously gleeful to her left.

  Mae shot him a glare and rolled her eyes.

  “You heard me wrong,” she said snootily.

  “Uh huh,” he replied as he too eyed the hardened men flowing into the clearing as silent as air.

  Mae was just thankful he let it drop, because there was no way she was admitting to him he’d been correct in thinking she’d never get away. Even if he had been, he’d hold it over for who knows how long just to be vindictive judging by the absentminded smirk that had crossed his face before he got serious.

  And there’s a lot to be serious about, Mae thought, more worried than ever.

  Trying to find an edge and seeing none, she desperately studied everything there was to see in the make-up of the interlopers who had come in from her back, her front, and her sides. Unfortunately, the only thing that the afternoon light revealed was that they were good.

  Too good.

  8

  First, they had covered their feet with burlap and everything up to their calves was nothing but cloth. Which obviously allowed them to move swiftly-but-silent without garments catching on the trees.

  Second, they weren’t weighed down by armor or any physically defensive covering that she could see. The metal bits she’d seen gleaming in between the trees? Nothing more than the brooch insignias which announced their affiliations.

  Easily hidden by a pinned cloak until they were ready to announce their presence.

  “I guess they’re realized we were no threat to them,” Mae muttered to no one in particular.

  By her side Rivan grunted and said, “Speak for yourself.”