Chapter 116 Stop

Chapter 116 Stop
Lyanna

Ridan did not rise for several minutes.
He remained beside the road with his forearms braced against his knees and his head bowed between them while I stayed beside him, one hand resting against his shoulder and the other pressed into the damp earth so I could keep myself balanced.
When he finally moved, he wiped both hands over his face and drew in a breath that trembled before settling.
“Who was with him?”
I looked at him.
“At the end?”
He nodded.
“Not me.”
The answer tightened something deep in my chest.
Ridan stared at the road between his boots for several moments before speaking again.
“Did he know you were alive?”
“I don't know.”
His jaw tightened, and silence settled between us until his attention shifted past my shoulder.
I followed his gaze and found Elias standing farther down the road.
He had given us enough distance that Ridan and I could speak privately, but he had not stopped watching the trees. One hand rested near the hilt of his sword while he faced the bend ahead, and Asha remained several yards behind him with both horses.
Ridan pushed himself to his feet.
I rose more slowly, using my hand against my thigh to help myself upright.
His attention never left Elias.
“Who is he?”
There was something different in the question now.
“Ridan.”
He finally looked at me.
“Who is he?”
There was no reason to hide it.
“Elias Veras.”
Recognition crossed his face so quickly that my stomach tightened.
“Lord Veras?”
Elias turned at the sound of his name.
Ridan stepped away from me.
“You're Lord Veras?”
Elias looked from him to me before meeting Ridan's stare.
“I am.”
Ridan's hand moved immediately toward his sword.
I caught his forearm.
“No.”
He looked down at my hand as though he had forgotten I was standing beside him, then pulled free.
“You're travelling with him?”
“Yes.”
His expression twisted.
“With him?”
“Ridan, listen to me.”
He was already moving toward Elias.
Elias turned fully toward us and left the bend.
“Stop.”
Ridan continued walking.
I hurried after him as quickly as the uneven ground allowed.
“Ridan.”
He glanced back.
“You know who he is?”
“Yes.”
“You know what he commanded?”
“Yes.”
His disbelief sharpened.
“And you're walking beside him?”
“He got me out.”
Ridan stopped so suddenly that I nearly walked into his back.
He turned toward me.
“Out of what?”
“Drakovia.”
“That is not an answer.”
“He helped me escape.”
He stared at me for a long moment, and when he laughed, the sound held no amusement.
“A Drakovian commander helped you escape Drakovia.”
“Yes.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to listen to me.”
His gaze moved over my face.
“I've been listening.”
He turned toward Elias again.
I caught his sleeve.
“Ridan.”
This time he tore his arm free with enough force that I stumbled.
Elias moved immediately.
He crossed half the distance between us before stopping himself.
“Don't touch her again.”
Ridan drew his sword.
Asha swore somewhere behind me.
I stepped between them before either could close the distance.
“Put it away.”
Ridan stared at me.
“You're defending him?”
“I am telling you to put the sword away.”
“He was one of them.”
“He is not—”
“He was one of them.”
His voice cracked across the road loudly enough that birds scattered from the trees nearby.
Elias's hand settled around the hilt of his sword.
Ridan noticed.
“Go on.”
Elias watched him steadily.
“Don't.”
“You think I'm afraid of you?”
“No.”
“Ridan, stop.”
He ignored me.
“You commanded men who crossed our border.”
Elias did not answer.
“You served the people who burned our villages.”
Elias's jaw tightened, but he remained silent.
“You wore their colours while they dragged our people into cages.”
This time Elias answered.
“I did.”
Ridan stared at him.
“You did.”
“Yes.”
The fury in his face deepened.
“And now you stand here beside her.”
“I do.”
Ridan advanced.
I caught his forearm with both hands.
“Stop.”
He pulled away sharply enough that I lost my footing.
Asha reached me from behind and caught me around the waist before I could fall.
“Careful.”
“Let me go.”
“Not while they are holding swords.”
“I said let me go.”
Ridan raised his weapon.
Elias drew his.
The scrape of steel leaving the scabbard sent cold through my stomach.
“Elias.”
His eyes flicked toward me.
Ridan attacked before Elias could look back.
Elias barely raised his sword in time.
Their blades struck hard enough that the sound rang through the trees.
Asha dragged me backward as Ridan swung again.
Elias turned the strike aside and stepped away rather than returning it.
“Stop this.”
“You don't give me orders.”
Ridan attacked again, and their swords collided with another hard crack of steel.
Elias shoved him away.
Ridan recovered before his balance had fully settled and came forward again.
I had watched him train beside Rubin often enough to know how dangerous he could be with a blade, but Elias moved with a control that made the difference between them immediately clear.
Ridan thrust toward his ribs.
Elias twisted aside, caught the blade against his own and drove it downward.
Ridan ripped his sword free before Elias could trap it.
“You think helping one woman erases what you did?”
“No.”
Ridan slashed across him.
Elias blocked.
“You think walking her south makes you clean?”
“No.”
“Then what are you doing with her?”
Elias's expression sharpened.
“That is not yours to decide.”
Ridan lunged again.
Their swords struck, and Asha pulled me farther from them.
“Lyanna, stay out of it.”
“They're going to hurt each other.”
“I know.”
“Then do something.”
“With what?”
Ridan forced Elias toward the edge of the road.
Elias gave ground for two steps before changing direction so suddenly that Ridan nearly lost his footing.
Their blades locked.
Ridan leaned into him.
“You should have died with the rest of them.”
Something in Elias's face changed.
He broke the lock and struck hard enough that Ridan's sword jerked sideways.
Ridan barely managed to recover.
Asha tightened her hold on me.
“Stay here.”
I twisted against her grip.
“Elias.”
He did not look at me.
Ridan swung toward his head.
Elias ducked beneath the strike and drove his shoulder into Ridan's chest.
Ridan stumbled several steps backward before finding his footing.
When he came forward again, his face was twisted with anger.
“You put your hands on her?”
Elias stopped moving for the smallest moment.
Ridan saw it.
His expression hardened.
“So you did.”
“Ridan, no.”
He pointed the sword at Elias.
“You touch Rubin's wife and stand there as though you've earned the right?”
My pulse struck painfully against my throat.
“That is enough.”
Neither of them listened.
Ridan attacked, and this time Elias met him instead of retreating.
Their blades crashed together twice in quick succession, and Ridan was forced backward.
I tried to move toward them.
Asha caught me more firmly.
“Let me go.”
“No.”
“Asha.”
“You cannot walk between two swords.”
“He's going to kill him.”
“I don't know which one you mean.”
“I mean both of them.”
Ridan's blade glanced off Elias's guard and sliced through the sleeve near his upper arm.
My breath caught.
Elias looked down briefly at the torn fabric before lifting his eyes to Ridan.
Whatever restraint had kept him defending instead of attacking disappeared.
He drove forward.
Ridan barely caught the first strike.
The second forced him backward.
The third nearly tore the sword from his hand.
“Elias!”
He continued.
Ridan recovered and swung low.
Elias stepped over the blade and brought his own sword down against it with enough force that the impact rang along the road.
Ridan's grip slipped.
For one awful moment, Elias's sword passed close enough to his throat that I saw Ridan jerk backward.
My stomach twisted.
I shoved against Asha's arms.
“Let me go.”
“Lyanna.”
“Let me go!”
Her grip loosened just enough for me to tear myself free.
I managed two steps before she caught the back of my cloak and dragged me out of reach again.
Ridan came at Elias with another furious strike.
Elias blocked him.
Ridan spat another curse in his face and swung again.
Elias answered by forcing his blade aside.
I saw Ridan's sword pass close enough to Elias's ribs that my breath stopped.
I saw Elias recover and raise his own weapon.
Neither man looked toward me.
Neither appeared to hear anything beyond the scrape and crash of steel.
Panic rose so sharply through my chest that the sound escaped before I could control it.
“STOP!”