Chapter 9: To Trap Her
"I thought you did this to trap her," Rylen asked Caius. "You’re just going to kill her father?"
"Don’t look at me like that," Caius said. "If she had done what I wanted, this wouldn’t happen." Caius shrugged as he casually held onto the reins of his horse.
"You didn’t give her a chance to correct this. You even made us leave earlier than scheduled," Rylen scolded. He rode closer to Caius.
"Yes, so we can get to the capital on time. Even on horseback, it will take us no less than two days. If we leave early, we can get to the capital by dusk on the second day."
Rylen didn’t reply to this; he just rode past and left Caius alone. There was no point in trying to speak more on the matter. He wouldn’t listen, and he knew better than to anger Caius. At least, he was amused, but Rylen couldn’t help but worry about the girl’s father.
Caius watched Rylen ride off, and an odd thought popped into his head. He frowned and turned back, refusing to let his thoughts stray to places he’d rather not think about. Right now, the redhead that got his loins in a frenzy was far more important. Caius frowned as he was met with an empty path. He was riding as slowly as possible, yet she wasn’t here yet. If she wanted to rescue her father, she had to work hard for it. Refusing his offer had consequences.
From here, he could no longer see Edenville again, just a path lined with huge trees on each side. Caius turned his head to the front, then shrugged and picked up the pace. They had a lot of riding to do. It was her loss at the end of the day.
Caius heard it before he saw it. The gallops of an incoming horse—it didn’t sound like it came from his men. It sounded faster. Caius would recognize that anywhere, but he didn’t even flinch, didn’t turn around. Instead, he picked up the pace some more, forcing his men to increase their pace too.
They were a band of fifty men, and Caius knew all of them by name. They had fought with him in several battles. He also went with them everywhere. He trusted them, and he knew they would easily lay down their lives for him. Right now, he was leading them as they flanked him on both sides and covered up the rear.
Suddenly, Rylen was by his side again. He bounced with every movement of the horse. "Did you know she would do this?"
"Do what?" Caius asked, pretending to be oblivious. "Wait, who?"
Actually, Caius didn’t expect this at all. He had thought she would stop him at the gate. He had completely given up on trying to get her, maybe not completely. He was just as shocked as Rylen. However, it didn’t mean he had to make it easy for her.
"Rose," he said. When Caius still frowned, he added, "the redhead."