Chapter 22
Rhyland’s POV
The cool breeze blew past us as we entered into the abandoned castle, Queen Fara was right when she said the building had not been touched during the war.
Which was strikingly odd..
If you had gone to war with someone, the first thing you’d do would be to destroy their home. Make it impossible for them to stay hidden but that didn’t seemed to be the case.
The white marble floor looked as if it were just waxed with a shiny coat layering the top of it.
“Holy hell.. this place is in immaculate shape.” I heard Cassius say and I found my eyes wandering towards Raven. Her dark brown eyes searched the castle but I don’t think she knew exactly what she was looking for.
It was almost like she was lost and looking for a way out.
Even from here I could see how this made her uncomfortable, but if she were uncomfortable, why’d she agree to come?
Then, my eyes landed on Cassius. A deep pink bruise forming around his jaw already.
Maybe he’s the reason she came, the two seemed to be joined at the hip when it came to making decisions but Cassius seemed to have the upper hand.
We ventured through the empty halls and made our way into what looked like used to be the throne room. I spotted a bouquet of flowers, the another, and another.
My eyebrows furrowed together until a picture came into view infront of a throne, it held a beautiful woman with honey colored hair and vibrant green eyes. As we walked further into the room, directly infront of the second throne was another bouquet of flowers.
In the middle of all the flowers was another picture, this time of an older man with black hair and dark eyes. His smile held a genuine happiness and in that moment I noticed that this was Raven and Cassius’ parents.
My eyes darted towards her as she stepped forward and reached out to touch the picture of her father.
“Why would anyone want to kill them?” She asked under her breath, low enough that even I barely heard her.
“Power, money, land.” I admit and her head snaps towards me as if she had forgotten I was even present on this trip.
“I don’t understand how people could kill a person that had a family, children to take care of..”
I looked down at her and found myself wishing for an instant that I had her humble soul. She’d talk sense into the most daring man and do it with ease. Her innocence in the world shined bright when she had spoken because people would kill for a dime.
It’s just the world we lived in.
“The people here placed those up after the war, your parents were good people and even better rulers.” Queen Fara smiled down at Raven and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Who are you and what are you doing here? No one is allowed in this castle.”
I spun on my heels and was met with a small boy, he was maybe fifteen at most and his freckled face frowned upon seeing us.
“Then why are you here?” I asked simply and his eyes hardened as they narrowed in on me.
“I’m paying my respect to the King and Queen.”
I furrowed my brows at him and folded my arms across my chest.
“Aren’t you a little young to be traveling around this land alone? Where’s your mother?”
His face dropped towards the floor and his arms went slightly limp at this sides. I watched his actions and opened my mouth to say something else but a gentle hand gripped onto my arm stopping me.
My eyes lifted to find Raven’s sparkling gaze looking down at the boy.
“My mother passed with the war..” He admitted and I felt a tug in my chest.
“And your father?” Raven asked softly and this gained the little boy’s attention, he looked up at her and answered.
“He took his own life not long after.”
He looked down at his hand that held a rose and he stepped forward, past us, and sat it in between the two pictures. So this little boy had... no one.
“Are you all here to pay your respects too?” He spoke while stepping away from the thrones.
“Something like that.” Cassius spoke up before stepped up to the boy with a confused look. “Who are you staying with if I might ask?”
The little boy twiddled his fingers before looking up towards Cassius, then his eyes trailed around at all of us.
“My aunt.” He clipped it short before shooting his gaze down towards the floor and turning around towards the door.
The little boy exited just as quick as he had entered and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he had lied.
“I don’t think he lives with his aunt, frankly I don’t think he lives with anyone.” I stated and I heard Queen Fara agree behind me.
“He seen all of us and probably freaked out, I know I would if I were his age.” Raven said.
After we traveled all through the castle and explored the rooms, we chose the ones we wanted to stay in.
Cassius chose his old room and Elijah chose the room next to Cassius.
I pushed the door open to a room that was by itself, I didn’t picture myself as someone wanting to sleep near Cassius or Elijah.
When the door opened, I found the room fully furnished. Covers still thrown over the bed, pillows still fluffed up, and the room was still clean. For the place to be abandoned, I didn’t see a trace of dirt anywhere.
The color scheme in this room were neutral, containing gray, white, and black.
Pulling my suitcase into the room, I felt a tingle rush up my back and travel through my body. The feeling made me turn around to find Raven standing at the door frame.
Her eyes traveled around the room, before meeting mine.
“You okay?” I asked, her facial expressions holding emotions I didn’t think I’d see on her.
She nodded slowly before stepping further into the room with me, her hand dragged across the walls until she hit a spot that had a small hollow.
A small smile grew on her lips as she looked down at the indentation.
“This was my room, the memory is faint but.. I remember this. Cassius and I were playing and we hadn’t noticed exactly how rough we had gotten until he hit the dresser, creating this.” She gestured to the hollow.
I looked around the room, suddenly feeling like I’m intruding.
“Oh, uh- I’m sorry here.” I said while grabbing my things and walked towards the door. Before I made it, she placed her hand against my chest and pushed me back softly.
Everything she did was with such grace, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. She was the most dangerous person and yet she didn’t show it.
“No it’s fine, if I had to let anyone stay in it I would’ve picked you anyways.”
The place her hand sat against my chest began heating up from her body heat and mine combining, but I can’t say I didn’t ravish in the feeling.
“And why is that?” I asked, looking down at her hand. She seemed to realize she still had it there and moved it as if she were embarrassed by her actions.
“Well, Cassius has his own room and-,” I zoned out her words as my eyes dropped down to her lips. She chuckled at something she had said and the sound was the most satisfying thing I could ever recall hearing.
“Rhyland?” She spoke and I shook my head and looked up at her apologetically.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
She shook her head and smiled before answering.
“Do I have something on my lip?” She asked, pulling her hand up to her mouth and wiping her thumb across her bottom lip swiftly.
The action was harmless but made the desire to kiss her even more prominent.
“Yes actually.”
Her eyebrows furrowed and she began to pull up the seam of her shirt to wipe at it but I grabbed her hands in mine and moved closer towards her.
She seemed slightly confused by the action but her body wasn’t repulsed by it. In fact, she seemed almost excited at our closeness.
I leaned down slowly, giving her time to back away if she’d like. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at me and her cheeks were turning a bright shade of pink.
With one last swift movement, my lips crashed into her and a gasp left her mouth. The feeling felt euphoric and I knew that this wasn’t going to be just a kiss to me.
To my surprise, she met my roughness and seemed to be craving it just as much as I was. Her soft lips moved against mine with hunger that I didn’t know she held, I stepped forward, putting her against the wall and my body against hers.
A very light moan escaped her lips and I found my dignity hanging on by a thread just from the sound itself.
Gods, this girl was killing me.
My hand wrapped up into her hair as I deepened the kiss, her tiny arms wrapped around the back of my neck and pulled me deeper into her also.
With one quick movement, I unraveled my hand from her hair and gripped the back of her thighs to lift her up. She must’ve gotten the memo because she hopped and wrapped her legs around my waist with ease.
My heartbeat was running rapid enough for me to feel it in my throat.
I pulled back to find both of us breathing harshly as I looked down into her eyes.
“There, I got it off.” I smiled down as wiped her lips with my thumb.