This chapter is from Finger Eleven - Paralyzer

Riftan's throat burned as he finished off another cup of wine. The food had yet to be served and he was already feeling light headed. He had Hebaron to thank for that, as soon as Riftan walked into the banquet the giant of a man ambushed him. He went on a rant about how much he had missed his future commander which soured Riftan's already failing mood.

Maximilian was right, her maids were either suspicious of something or had suddenly increased their protective nature towards their lady. Though she was out in the garden her maids had joined her. They seemed completely unaware of the disappointed lady pretending to read while they worked away on their embroidery. It made their little game go from thrilling to frustrating.

At least he could see her here. There was a bit of fun in watching her from across the room, especially when she noticed it. He couldn't see the details of her face clearly but her body language gave her away. Maximilian went from looking bored, with her head down and her hands politely clasped together, to suddenly fidgeting as she pulled on the sleeve of her burgundy dress before brushing her hand over the skirt of her dress. As her hand came up to brush some of hair to keep it in place, he could swear she was looking at him. As much as he wished, Riftan wouldn't dare get too close to her. though her maids rarely joined her during the banquets her father rarely left her side. Which was a shame, her dress was styled in a way that showed off the top of her shoulders.

Riftan wished she had worn that dress last night. He was sure if she had he wouldn't have been able to resist kissing every single freckle dusted on her delicate skin. He hoped she would enjoy the feeling of him kissing down her neck and over her shoulders as much as he knew he would.

He tried to hide his smirk behind the rim of his cup, he might just find out tonight. That is, if it worked out like he hoped. Riftan had a plan that would work out better if he was sober, but he couldn't tell Hebaron that. His attention was reluctantly brought back to the boisterous man as Riftan tried to decline Hebaron from refilling his wine. In return Hebaron began to pout and insist on celebrating his Vice Commander's grand return to the banquet.

Riftan was starting to get truly annoyed and the thought of punching the man started to sound like a good solution until Triton spoke up.

"Oh, go on and drink up. Nothing wrong with indulging on special occasions."

Hebaron started to laugh at their Commander's encouragement while trying to smack Riftan's back.

He was quick to dodge Hebaron's hand and sighed while begrudgingly allowing the refill.

"And what special occasion is that?"

"On the breaking of that foul mood of yours. Now, I know you're not the most chipper man but I don't think I've ever seen you so grim before." Hebaron quickly replied, seemingly unfazed by Riftan dodging him. Though he could have been too distracted by Riftan offering his goblet.

He was about to take a sip of the wine but paused as he realized the knight's words. Riftan might not have been hiding his emotions as well as he thought. Which was strange, he was normally rather gifted for that.

Sighing again, he took a rather large drink from his newly filled goblet, causing Hebaron and a few other knights to cheer before they downed their own cups.

Riftan made sure to remember this the next time he had to face his fellow knights during training.

"I can't help but be a little curious..."

"What fucking a surprise." Riftan grumbled as Hebaron made sure everyone had their cups refilled.

"Haha, very funny. But really, what put you in such a ghastly mood?"

"I hope none of the nobles have given you any trouble."

Riftan narrowed his eyes at Hebaron and Triton behind the rim of his cup. He was starting to regret coming here tonight...well. His attention slowly focused on someone behind them, someone with her red hair pulled up into a bun he very much would like to unravel again.

"It's nothing." he mumbled before finishing off his wine...again. He could only hope that the men around him blamed the alcohol Hebaron was pushing on him for the tint in his cheeks.

"I'll bet you anything It was caused by a lady."

Shit.

"Fuck off, Gabel, no one was talking to you." Riftan was glad he was able to keep a straight face at the accusation despite the little feeling of paranoia clawing at the back of his neck.

"You know, Gabel, you might have a point there. Why else would our dear Vice Commander be dolling himself up."

Riftan was quick to shoot Hebaron a look that dared him to continue. Unfortunately, Hebaron seemed to not notice or care as he placed his arm over Gabel's shoulder, pretending to whisper in the younger knight's ear.

"Remember how I told you he started to smile all dreamy like..."

Gabel smirked while slowly nodding his head.

"Oh, I remem-"

"Do you two have a death wish?" Riftan said, touching the hilt of his sword.

Hebaron put on an exaggerated look of terror as he moved to try and hide behind a laughing Gabel.

"Commander, won't you protect us from your Vice?" Hebaron said in a fake whiny voice causing Triton to chuckle

"Would be quite something if that was true, but I'm afraid I'm the reason for his appearance. I've instructed him to put his best foot forward when around the nobles."

Riftan felt his body tense as Triton spoke up in his defense. He could swear the older Knight winked at him, as if to be reassuring, before going back to talking with Ursulin who seemed to be the only one able to avoid Hebaron's refills.

At any other time, Triton's attempt to reassure Riftan would have worked, but now...

He stole a quick glance at Maximilian before looking down at his empty cup and ignoring the stares from his companions. That bit of paranoia continuing to claw away, making his hair stand on end.

Have I been that obvious? There's no way they could all know, right?

"Does this mean you've finally accepted the succession plans?" Gabel asked while moving away Hebaron as the giant of a man tried to refill everyone's glass again.

Copying Gabel, Riftan quickly took a step back to try and avoid drinking more wine.

"If I keep drinking, will you two stop asking me useless questions?"

"Ha! I think I can make that deal." With a childlike excitement, Hebaron quickly began to make sure both he and Gabel had more wine. "Can't promise I'll stop asking when you're sober."

It was a stupid idea, but he at least got some reprieve from their questions and he felt his paranoia slowly fade away as the food started to arrive. He was thankful for it, though he wished they would just bring out everything at once instead of only a little at a time.

Riftan tried his best to only sip on the wine to keep Hebaron at bay but he needed to sober up at least a little bit before he made his move. Looking up, he watched as Maximilian stared at her food that was brought out. He had a feeling he had to move quickly, something told him she wouldn't be staying there long.

With surprising steadiness, Riftan got up and started to leave, making Hebaron begin to complain.

"Finished so soon? I'm disappointed in you."

"Fuck off you lush."

He could hear laughter behind him as he made his way out of the banquet hall. There were two doors on either side of the banquet hall, one was the fastest route toward the guest wing the Remdragon Knights were staying while the other one ...he wasn't quite sure but Maximilian almost always left through them.

Though his footing is sure his head felt light as he exited the banquet hall. The temperature instantly dropped giving him some relief before he moved down the hall until he came across the first intersecting corridor. Looking behind him, he made sure no one was watching before he moved to extinguish most of the candles around the entrance of the corridor before hiding there. Riftan wasn't sure if it was the wine or the anticipation but his whole-body felt like electricity was running through his veins.

As he waited in the dark his fingers began to tap against the cold stone wall he was leaning against. He didn't even notice they were following the beat of the music echoing out from the banquet. The sound was loud enough to drown out the voices inside and almost hid the sound of the door opening followed by the light tapping of footsteps and rustling fabric slowly coming towards him.

Riftan started to feel like an animal stalking his prey as the tiny steps slowly drew closer. As soon as he caught a glimpse of red hair, Riftan reached out and wrapped his arms around Maximilian from behind and pulled her into the dark.

Maximilian nearly let out a scream but he seemed to be able to cut it short with a simple kiss to her temple. Squirming in his arms, the lady turned her head to look up where he saw a look of relief wash over those beautiful eyes of hers.

"S-sir Ri-mh" It was rude of him to keep cutting off a lady but he couldn't help it. With the way her body relaxed in his arms as she timidly kissed him back, he had a feeling didn't seem to mind.

It was strange, this kiss was so different from their first with how slowly and gentle their lips moved yet he could tell it was leaving them both breathless. He wondered how many other ways he could kiss her.

Smiling against her lips, Riftan brought his hand up to cup her face, brushing his thumb over her warm cheek for a moment before moving on to start playing with the dainty earring and then her earlobe. He felt her shiver a little at the touch making him chuckle as slowly began to kiss down her neck. It was hard to resist biting down on the soft pale skin but even in his state of mind he knew better than to leave any marks. He would have to settle for slowly dragging his teeth over shoulder making the squirming lady in his arms gasp at the act.

Good, it would have been a shame if she didn't like this.

"S-sir R-riftan?"

"Like sugar." he mumbled against her skin.

"S-sugar?"

"Your freckles, it's like someone spilled sugar on your skin." He felt her shiver when his tongue darted out to taste her skin in between kisses as he lazily made his way back up her neck to nipple on her ear. "Is that why you're so sweet, Maxi?" he asked in a low voice.

"I..wh-what?" Riftan pulled himself away to look down at her. Her face was an adorable shade of red but she looked so confused. He couldn't understand why. Last night, before Maxi left, he warned her he'd kiss her the next chance he got...didn't he? Or was it something his drunken mind was imagining.

His mind was brought back to the present as Maxi started to squirm under his gaze.

"S-sir Riftan?"

"Riftan."

"Wh-what?"

"Just Riftan."

She seemed to hesitate for a moment before mumbling. "Riftan?"

What sort of pathetic idiot was he to find that so nice.

"Wh-what are y-you d-doing...here?"

"...waiting."

"F-for me?"

"Who else? It's not like I could see you in the garden." He tried his best not to slur his words as he continued to lazily play with her earring.

Her confused look turned to guilt as she tried to pull away from his fingers. He smiled softly as he let go of the jewelry and loosened his hold on her, allowing the lady to turn herself to face him a little better.

"I'm s-s-sorry, m-my maids..."

Maxi flinched as Riftan once again cut off her words with a chaste kiss.

"What did I tell you?" he asked in a soft whisper as he touched his forehead to hers.

She hesitated for a moment before looking down. "D-don't...a-apologize so m-much?"

"Exactly, we'll figure something out. Until then, can I keep doing this?"

Maxi didn't say anything but he watched as she nodded her head.

Riftan mumbled a quiet "Good." as he ducked his head down to taste her lips again. He might have found the one thing in this world he could become addicted to. Something about the way she held onto him and tentatively tried to keep up with his kiss was completely intoxicating, and distracting. So much so that he nearly missed the sound of the banquet hall opening.

From the look of panic in her eyes he knew she must have heard it too.

Without any warning, Riftan took hold of Maxi's hand and led her down the corridor trying his best to stay at a pace she could keep up with.

He didn't stop until he spotted a few doors evenly spaced out.

"What are these?"

When he didn't hear a reply, Riftan looked behind him to see Maxi panting with her hand on her chest trying to catch her breath.

Feeling some pity, he asked an easier question.

"Would anyone be using them right now?"

As her breathing slowed down, she used her free hand to nearly bite her nail before quickly moving to play with her sleeve. After a few seconds she shook her head.

Riftan gave her a sly smile.

"Good."

Without any hesitation, Riftan led her towards the closest door and flung it open. It looked to be a small bedroom; smaller than the ones the knights had been given with a window that hardly let any light from the moon in. Not that it really mattered. As soon as Maxi stepped in Riftan closed the door and pushed her up against it as his lips collided with hers.

Sober him would have thought of this sooner, it was stupid of him to start kissing her out in the hall. Not only did they nearly get caught but he quickly noticed Maxi was a little less timid when there was some privacy. Instead of just squirming in his arms she started to whimper and moan as his fingers began to pull at her hair, freeing it from that damn bun again as her arms slowly began to wrap around his neck.

The very fact Maxi was kissing him back with a passion that matched his own while clinging on to him only made Riftan grow bolder, letting him feel like he could pick her up by her waist and set her down on a nearby table. Riftan didn't notice Maxi's apprehension at first, too busy focusing on kissing every freckle on her shoulder as his hands started to pull at her skirt. It wasn't until his fingers touched her bare leg that her hand flew to his, pushing it away.

Riftan felt himself instantly sober up as he pulled away to see a look of complete panic in her eyes.

Removing himself completely from her, Riftan took a few steps back while running his hand over his face. He needed to cool down fast.

"I'm sorry."

There was a moment of silence between them that wasn't broken until he heard her start to move closer to him.

"I th-thought you s-said n-not to...apologize so m-much."

Riftan removed his hand from his face and looked down at her. He could barely make out her face in the dark but he was able to see a small smile on her face as he laughed.

"From you." He hesitates for a moment before gently touching her shoulder as he moved in to place a small kiss on her forehead.

Leaving his lips there he sighed. "I won't do anything you're not comfortable with."

He felt her hands come up to touch his chest, laying her hand there where she would most likely feel his heart had yet to slow down. Pulling back, he looked down and watched as her hand found the necklace, her fingers tracing around it before looking up to smile at him.

"Riftan?"

"Mh?"

"Th-thank you."

For the first time in years Riftan had slept in and if it wasn't due to the pounding in his head he would have kept sleeping. Groaning, he pulled himself from his bed and attempted to soothe his pain like he did the first morning he woke up in this room. Just like before the cool water did little to help. He could only thank God that he didn't have any dreams tormenting him as well.

The pain was something he possibly deserved. Riftan couldn't remember how he got to bed; all he could remember was foolishly pouncing on Maxi.

He couldn't believe he allowed Hebaron to feed him so much wine, nor could he believe how reckless he behaved. If anyone had seen them everything would have gone down in flames. Maxi's reputation would have been completely ruined, he would have found himself on the end of a noose and any good standing the Remdragon Knights had would have vanished.

Getting dressed, Riftan swore to himself that he would never again pounce on Maxi like that and the next time Hebaron tries to get him drunk he'll punch in in the throat.

Despite his pounding head, Riftan was able to move swiftly through the guest wing, avoiding any of the other Knights. Now more than ever did he wish to avoid them as he tried to find a good path towards an exterior door.

As he turned the corner of what felt like endless halls, he saw something he thought was impossible.

"What are you doing alone?"

Maxi spun around at the sound of his voice, she looked to be just as surprised as he was.

Oh, w-well I w-was...reading in th-the l-library and...s-suddenly I was a-alone..." as she trailed off, he watched as she looked over her shoulder before focusing back towards him as he approached her. "I d-don't kn-know...where she is..."

"Is that common?"

She was quiet for a moment before nodding.

That's surprising.

Riftan cocked his head to the side. "Really?"

"W-well, it is when n-no one is...v-v-visiting."

That still didn't make sense to Riftan, but despite his skepticism he couldn't help but see the opportunity this might bring.

Taking a step closer to the lady, Riftan lowered his voice and brought up his hand to play with one of her loose curls.

"So, we're alone right now?"

She began to blush while slowly nodding.

Perfect .

At that, he turned to look back from where he came, then behind her and finally out the nearby window to see if there was anyone around.

She looked a little confused at his action until he swiftly moved his hand from playing with her hair to holding the back of her head as he pulled her in for a quick kiss.

"I'll see you in the garden?" he asked while taking a step away from her, almost failing to hold back a chuckle at her flustered look as she quickly nodded. Before he was caught alone with the lady, Riftan gave her a small bow and continued down the hall.

It was funny how easily he could completely forget the vow he swore himself.

Perhaps they had been too paranoid with her maids, they better be. He only had five days left with her and who knew when he'd see her again. As he made his way toward the garden Riftan started to think of ways they could communicate in secret. He had thought of secret letters before but after seeing how often she had someone around her it didn't feel like it could be possible, but if there were times that they truly left her alone then there was a chance. All they would need to do is find someone to handle the letters on her side.

For just a split second he thought of asking his step-father's son to help but nixed that idea as soon as it came. There was no need for him to interfere with his step-fathers family or life anymore. He could pay one of the staff but he had no clue who to trust...but Maxi would. Smiling he took in a deep breath, there was no doubt in his mind that someone as kind as her had made some friends around the castle that would do this for her.

It truly wouldn't be that difficult if they planned it out correctly. It wouldn't be frequent by any means but it would still be possible. Hell, he might even be able to send her gifts if they're small enough. Maybe a ring or delicate little bracelet or...Riftan felt his face heat up as he remembered the sound she made as he played with her ear.

Earrings could work.

Feeling a little better about their situation he continued his path towards the garden with lighter steps. As he got closer, he started to hear Maxi's voice which made him chuckle. He should have figured that the cat would make its appearance again, no doubt determined to steal its master's attention away from Riftan. Then, moments later he heard another voice. A voice he recognized. A voice he knew didn't belong at their spot. Any sort of good mood he had allowed himself to feel fell away as dread sank in.

With hurried movements, Riftan started to run along the path, praying to God he was wrong. But when he finally was able to see the garden, he swore his heart stopped.

That feeling of paranoia from last tonight came back in force, digging and clawing away at the back of his neck.

Standing next to Maxi in the spot they would use to hide away and talk, was Gabel.