Darius leaned forward, forearms resting on the table. The messenger from Dawnbreak, according to both Ryker and Cedar, was a man of unimpressive wit. That alone was insulting. To send someone so dim ahead of the official party? It felt like a calculated slight. As if Dawnbreak considered Ironshade trivial, just another backwater outpost, ripe for control and rich in ore.
Ryker slid the envelope across the table to the other man, Darius merely looked at it and waved his hand. The letter was already unsealed and presumably had been read by Ryker.
"No need, tell me what it is," Darius said.
Ryker pulled the seat closer to Darius and placed his hands on the table. He had ridden straight from Blackthorn Keep, and the fatigue showed faintly around his eyes, though his voice gave nothing away.
"To cut it short," Ryker began, "he’s requesting an audience with you."
Darius hummed. "It can be done when his party arrives, I have work to do."
Ryker gave no reply just yet and Livia spoke up. "You will have to go, Ryker and I should be able to share the work, at least for today."
Darius looked between them, then waved a hand, dismissive. The idea of traveling all the way to Blackthorn Keep to share polite pleasantries and a cup of tea with a glorified errand boy felt beneath him.
"No," he said simply.
"I agree with Livia," Ryker added, surprising him slightly.
"It is unnecessary, I can meet up with them when their party is complete. They will be here soon anyway, if it was that urgent then they would have asked to follow here," Darius said.
Ryker huffed and looked away briefly. "They would have," he admitted.
Darius blinked slowly and decided this would be the right time to bring up what had transpired during the council meeting a few days ago between Livia and Ryker.
"Has there been an apology given to you?" Darius asked, making eye contact with his cousin.
Livia was startled at the way the topic had just shifted to her, she glanced at Ryker who made no show of acknowledgement. She narrowed her eyes and turned to Darius. She wondered how Darius had managed to tame Ryker so .
But no, it wasn’t Darius. The credit lay with her late uncle Magnus. He had shaped these two, whether they admitted it or not, he was the one responsible for the characters these men took up today. Darius the ever-so-bashful artist was now a level-headed leader but he still had his empathetic self. Ryker was still a brute but was more of an enigma as time went on, she could hardly break down what kind of man he was.
One thing she was sure of was that he was still lonely as she always knew him. Outside of pack duties he was rarely found doing... well, anything. Livia doubted the man had friends or even a prospect of settling down or starting a family.
But truth be told, the three of them were all versions of that. Livia had never imagined any of them settling down, that was the price they all paid for being associated with Magnus Hawthorne.
"No," Livia answered.
"Why is that?" Darius asked, keeping his gaze on Livia.
From the corner of his eye, he noted Ryker’s impassive posture. The stocky man blinked at a natural pace, arms crossed loosely over his chest, gaze fixed forward as though he wasn’t part of the conversation.
"I’m not sure. Why is that?" Livia countered, shifting slightly to look at Ryker.
"I apologise for the crude way I brought up the memory of your dead parents. I know their spirits are resting easy in the high abode..." Ryker began.
He exchanged glances between the two and then continued. "...but I am not sorry for bringing them up at all. I wanted my voice to be heard. It is a shame that someone of my standing was shut down like that."
"You speak as though I told you to get on your knees and shut up," Darius said, leaning back into his seat.
Ryker chuckled and shook his head, he was someone who prided himself in his smarts. He knew as well as Livia that Darius was angry at him. It was something about Darius that he knew better than anyone else, the people always assumed that he displayed anger in extravagant ways like the former Alpha.
It was more of a cold, calculating way that would make the person subjected to it antagonise themselves. But it was Darius’ tough luck that he was dealing with Ryker, not a regular member of Ironshade. For original chapters go to N()velFire.net
"I felt ashamed, I would have not expected the great council of Ironshade to be so divided over a dangerous vagabond," Ryker replied.
Darius noticed Livia’s shoulders drop just slightly, the tension leaving her spine. He almost laughed. She would let the insult slide if it meant Ryker was aiming it at him instead of Serena. Temporary allies, an enemy of an enemy is a friend as they say, how charming.
A small smile spread across Darius’ features, he interlaced his fingers and placed them under his chin. It seemed like an ambush of sorts, Ryker could have handled the messenger but here he was turning to an argument of how dangerous Serena could be.
"It is an in-house issue, it would not happen behind closed doors with the council, would you have preferred it with other pack members?"
Ryker pushed his hair back and leaned closer. "No I would not, but I do not appreciate not being heard."
"Oh, but you were and the Moonseeker had something to say of it. It is fine if we keep revisiting the threat that is Serena, I still fail to see it."
"Because you have gotten soft," Ryker snapped. The man made no motion of backing down and he continued in his argument. His eyes burned with something feral. "This may even be an act of bewitchment. Did you lay with the rogue?"