Unyielding

The girl was pretty, yes, and she had this alluring look of innocence in her eyes but she did not pose a threat to her. Or, did she?

She scoffed and looked over her shoulder, down the hallway from where she had come, her mind went back to the girl, the… Lyra, and the scene of Ryder holding her so close to himself. She had noticed the look of fear in the girl’s eyes, but she had been unable to tell what look Ryder had on his face at that time because he had his back towards her. She took in a deep breath and turned her head forward, no, the girl had nothing on her. She walked on.

Iris Nyx was Lord Ryder’s betrothed, his bride-to-be, his near equal; as she liked to think and his exact replica in character. She was as ruthless and as cold as he was and they took ultimate pleasure in exerting their dominance, but Iris loved to be the one to show off more.

At four hundred and ninety-eight years old, she was only sixteen years younger than he was and they had been betrothed to each other longer than that, but Ryder had never been a family guy, and maybe neither was Iris, so none of them pressured each other to seal the relationship, but then it was not news that they were together, the people already saw her as his woman.

Being the ruler of a vast empire like Astaroth was only easy if you were a man like Ryder, it would take his kind of charisma and persona to be able to control the empire, and although the title said “Lord of Astaroth”, the surrounding kingdoms gave him reverence. It was such a man that Iris wanted, and it was such a man that she got. It boosted her pride and ego, but she knew that one thing troubled him, it was the one thing that weighed heavy on the head of whoever wore the crown of Astaroth, and that was the inevitable event on the year of Osyron.

She approached quietly from behind and stood beside him on the balcony, taking in a deep breath and the awesome view of the land they ruled over. She smiled.

“Beautiful.”

Ryder ignored her, his face was straight and his lips set in a thin line, his breathing was steady and his gaze was fixed straight ahead, but he was not focusing on anything exactly. His mind was not here.

She turned her head slightly to him and when she noticed his uninterested mood, her face fell, how could she talk to him?

“You know, you’ve overcome the first obstacle.” She paused, waiting for him to say something, but when he didn’t, she continued. “You found her and brought her back here. That’s a step.”

“Getting her was never an obstacle.” He replied to her with a deadness in his voice. “That was the easy part.”

“I think you have enough time to do the rest.”

He sighed and lowered his head. “That’s not what Xanth says.”

“And what would he know? Just look at her, she looks like a lovelorn princess and you are a charming man.”

He faced her. “Am I? really?”

She chuckled and scooted closer to him, wrapping her arms around his and leaning her head on his shoulder. “You’re my kind of charming.”

He sighed. “I need to be her kind of charming.”

“Won’t be that hard.”

“She doesn’t have her memories.”

She lifted her head up and faced him, a serious look on her face. “How do you mean?”

“They wiped it, all thirty-eight years. She thinks she’s still sixteen. She believes she’s still sixteen.” He fisted his palms as he spoke. “They wanted to keep her away from me, to make her forget me. To erase me.” He repeated, laying emphasis on “me”. “I cannot let this go, Iris.”

“You shouldn’t.” She frowned and looked away from him into the open land stretched out before them and narrowed her eyes. “You shouldn’t.”

“Two years to the year of Osyron and I have a sixteen-year-old Khione in my possession.”

She looked back at him. “You have a Khione in…”

The was a rapt knock at the door, causing Iris not to complete her sentence. She frowned and turned her head back towards the room.

“My lord.” A servant girl knock raptly on the open door, her head bowed and her gaze low.

Iris growled and spun out of the balcony into the room, rushing towards the servant. “What is it?!”

The girl shook timidly. “It… it’s the lady, she’s… out of control.”

*  *  *  *  *

“No!” Lyra flung the dishes away in annoyance. “I don’t want any of it!”

The room was a mess with food and plate wares everywhere, the bed had been soiled and stained and so was her dress. She fumed and screamed and flung whatever she could grab a hold of away.

“My lady…” The servants called, trying to calm her down but Lyra was beyond calming, she was enraged and she was furious and she was bent on  tearing this place down to be let out, and she would start from this room.

Xanth was the first to rush into the room and he was mortified at what he saw, and shocked by her behavior, he had never imagined she could be this wild and somehow it gladdened him that Ryder had finally met his match, but right now was not the best time to show him this side of her. He would have to calm her down one way or the other before Ryder would get here.

“Lyra!” He called sternly and she turned to him immediately. He frowned deeply and took a dominating stance to scare her but Lyra would not give up. She grabbed the goblet lying on the bed and flung it at him. Xanth’s eyes widened and he immediately ducked to avoid it. He stared at her in surprise as she spoke to him sternly.

“I do not want to stay here! Tell that to your lord!” She yelled at him. “He will take me back to Dragonsbane right now or I will bring this whole castle down!”

“Lyra!” Ryder barged into the room, furious as hell, he took a quick glance over, and the state of the room that she had put it in fueled his anger. “Just what do you think you are doing?!”

Lyra seethed, she let go of the plate she had in her hand and let it clatter to the floor. She took a step towards him, all fear of him having vanished from her eyes. “You…”

Iris stepped into the room and stood behind Ryder, she watched the girl approach him like she was just about to beat the daylights out of him and just seeing the amount of raw courage in her steps was enough for Iris to want to throw her out the window, but she stood still to see what Ryder would do.

“You took me away from my parents and brought me here without a reason! And then you tell me to forget about ever going back?! just who do you think you are to keep me here?!”

Ryder was slightly taken aback by her words and daredevil attitude, but he was in no way amazed. He kept quiet and watched her, a frown on his cold face.

“Answer me right now!”

“Lyra!” Xanth called in warning but she would not listen to anyone. She took another step towards Ryder and spoke, pointing her index finger at him.

“Now, listen to me, you will take me out of this castle, out of this kingdom, and back to my parents or I will…”

Her talks infuriated Iris beyond her control, she quickly stepped past Ryder, and before Xanth could stop her, she flung Lyra back toward the wall without so much as a wave of her hand. Lyra hit the wall with so much force that she grunted in pain and fell back on the floor unconscious.

“Iris!” Xanth yelled at her action and she spun to him, her finger shaking in anger, and pointed at him.

“That is how you deal with the situation!” And with that, she stormed out of the room.

Ryder turned and narrowed his eyes at Xanth, took in a deep breath, and turned to leave the room but Xanth called him back.

“Ryder…”

“Do not tell me that was not the right thing to do Xanth.”

“It was not.”

“I didn’t touch her.”

“No. You allowed it.”

“You saw the way she acted.”

“She’s only scared and confused.”

“And that’s the problem!” He yelled, turning around to face Xanth. “That’s the problem, she is a fifty-six-year-old Khione with a sixteen-year-old brain!”

“Then you help her Ryder!” He yelled too then sighed and calmed down. “You help her, be gentle and gain her trust, then it would be easy having her fall in love with you.”

Ryder’s gaze lingered a little on Xanth before he turned and walked out of the room without saying anything. Xanth sighed exasperatedly and called the servants in.

“Clean up this mess.” He ordered and walked to where Lyra laid on the floor, bent down, and carried her up in his arms. “I’ll arrange another room for her to stay in.”