Maxi sat in a corner for a moment to catch her breath. Her face was flushed red from running about the stuffy tent all day with her hood drawn over her head.
As she fanned her face, she wondered if the Remdragon Knights were resting in their barracks by now. The soldier had informed her that no one else was injured, so was it safe to assume that Riftan was all right?
She was lost in her thoughts when she suddenly heard Idsilla’s urgent voice.
“Lady Ca—er, Sister Meg!”
Maxi turned to find the girl excitedly waving a towel at her.
“What are you doing over there?” Idsilla chirped. “If you’re done tending to the men, let’s hurry to the spring for a bath before it gets dark.”
Maxi hesitated. “R-Right now?”
“If we miss this opportunity, who knows when we will be able to again,” Idsilla pressed. “The soldiers should still be there. Hurry!”
Maxi hastily grabbed a bar of soap and a change of clothes. Despite the growing shadows, she was desperately longing for a bath. Determined to scrub themselves clean, the two women ran toward the darkening forest. They dashed along the forest path until they finally spotted the guards up ahead.
Turning her back to the men, Idsilla said, “I will ask them to keep watch for us while we bathe, so you go ahead first.”
She shot away like an arrow without waiting for Maxi’s answer. Although Maxi was a little uneasy about walking around the shadowy forest by herself, she hastened toward the spring, bent on washing before the sun disappeared completely.
A clear spring soon emerged between the dense trees, and Maxi excitedly ran toward it. She was about to cast off her clothes when she heard splashing nearby. She jerked her head toward the sound and gasped.
Not far from where she stood, a powerfully built man was half submerged in the water. She was staring at the man’s smooth back in shock when he suddenly turned his head.
Maxi hastily lowered hers. A cold sweat broke out on her back, and her heart pounded erratically. The man was none other than Riftan.
Maxi was so flustered that it did not immediately occur to her to flee. Her ears were ringing, and she teetered in place as an unbearable wave of vertigo washed over her. Was it brought on by fear or by longing? She barely managed to regain her balance by grabbing on to a rock.
Riftan’s cold voice sent an electric jolt through her veins. “Were you not told that I was not to be disturbed?”
Keeping her head down, Maxi gulped. She knew she had to say something but had a feeling he would recognize her immediately if she spoke.
After prickling with sweat in terrified silence for what felt like an eternity, Maxi finally buckled under the strange pressure emanating from him and managed to croak out, “P…Please…forgive me.”
There was a heavy silence. Maxi felt his sharp gaze boring into her head like needles.
“Raise your head,” he said, suspicious.
When she clutched her hood and began to back away, she heard splashing followed by the rustling of clothes.
Not daring to look up, Maxi’s eyes frantically searched the trees like an ambushed soldier seeking an escape route. Before she could find a way out, however, a pair of large, wet feet entered her line of vision. Riftan stalked toward her wearing nothing but his trousers.
“Did you not hear me?” he demanded.
Maxi could feel her temples pulsing. Her eyes shifted desperately, her heart pounded wildly, and her whole body dripped with cold sweat. She was trembling like a cornered beast when suddenly, Idsilla’s urgent voice called out.
“F-Forgive us, sir knight!”
The young noblewoman came bursting through the trees like the wind. She quickly positioned herself between Maxi and Riftan.
“We were busy tending to the wounded…. We did not know we weren’t supposed to approach the spring,” she rambled. “Our sincerest apologies for disturbing your rest.”
The soldiers must have told Idsilla that Riftan was here, as the girl swiftly grasped the situation and hid Maxi behind her.
“If we have your pardon, sir…we shall take our leave.”
Without waiting for his reply, Idsilla slowly pushed Maxi toward the trees. Riftan, however, was not one to give up so easily.
