Survive As The Brute's Wife

The screeches started getting less annoying and she saw the big monsters disappearing on the ground.

"Your hand," Maximus pulled her closer. Holding her hand, he checked the wound.

She knitted her brows as he squeezed her hand with his hand. The wound by the sharp dagger hurt as the cold rainwater dropped on it.  She watched her blood mixing with the raindrops and getting diluted. As little pink drops, her blood joined the raindrops and traveled to the ground.

The screeches she heard from the monsters were not heard anymore but she could see the ground trembling. She turned to look at Maximus but he was looking down with knitted brows.

She looked down and noticed the white cat standing in the middle of the field. Her eyes met with the cat's and she saw its blue eyes starting to glow. A lot of rope tornadoes formed from the ground and reached the sky scattering the raindrops around.

*Chu*

Maximus kissed her palm where the wound is and she saw the wound closing. Felixa looked at his eyes and she could see the relief in his eyes. 

"Let's take refuge in the house," Maximus said rubbing the horse's mane.

She nodded and without him saying anything to the horse, it landed at the front of the house.

The door was broken and the roof of the living room had collapsed. The horse approached a giant opening left by the collapse of the southern wall.

Maximus helped Felixa down and Felixa got inside the house. She turned to see the flying horse disappearing into thin air. She looked out to see the cat still there and the rain started to get heavy.

"Come on… Let's get inside…" Maximus placed his hand at the small of her back.

Felixa turned back and her heart burst to see the dilapidated interiors. She tripped as the wooden floor sank in as she stepped on. Grabbing the oak table that was layered with dust, she regained her balance.

"Careful," Maximus shouted and Felixa turned.

"Yes," she said swallowing the lump in her throat. He looked at her and tried to walk towards her bit she turned and walked inside.  She did not want to think about the intent of Maximus to bring her here.

Her eyes teared up as her heart got filled with nostalgia making her throat heavy. The stone stairs to the upper level were still intact and without knowing, she walked towards the staircase.

Her room used to be on the upper level. It was not a very big room as they had a wooden partition that separated her room and Tubby's room. She looked up and the roof was leaking and the wooden flooring seemed very unstable and rotten.

For a moment she thought she saw a shadow above. She heard a faint thud and she had an urge to take a look there. 

As she was about to climb on the stairs she was stopped by Maximus' voice.

"This place once used to be..."

Felixa looked at his pondering face and her heart started to pound inside her chest cavity. The dim light from the outside formed contours on his face and the grey of the sky reflected in his shiny golden orbs making it seem dull.

Folding his hands over his chest he turned at her.

"This was the home of the greatest Knight of all - The Rose Knight..." he looked forlorn as his eyes ended up at the oak tree outside. 

To his back was the fireplace and chimney where she used to sit around and get warm in the winter. But now the entire place looked cold and abandoned. But the amber eyes looked like a light at the horizon. It might not give warmth but it still gave her hope.

Felixa said nothing and walked closer to him to see if he has more to say. He took a glance at her and looked out. It has started raining cats and dogs and she saw the ground devouring the water.

Felixa couldn't see the cat anymore and she stood by Maximus' side. As he didn't elaborate further she decided to give him a nudge. 

"I thought he was a traitor," she said to observe his expression.

"He?" he raised his eyebrows and turned at her. 

Felixa's heart skipped a beat meeting his eyes.

[Why is he looking at me like that? What does he know?]

"Traitor..?" he looked away and a wry smile danced at the corner of his lips.

"Who are traitors, anyway?" he let out a breath. "A man disturbing the sleep of a noble with a sneeze is a traitor and so is someone wanting to kill a King. Traitors, betrayers… what is the meaning?"

"But he was condemned to suffer damnatio memoriae and so his betrayal must have been-"

"Betrayal?" he turned swiftly and Felixa took a step back reflexively. He seemed agitated and she didn't know what made him angry.

"Ah…" he let out a breath and took a step forward. Felixa got jumpy and placed her right foot behind the left to take another step back.

"Are you scared?" he held her wrist and pulled her closer.

Felixa shook her head biting her lips and he let go of her wrists. 

"I understand he was an enemy of your ancestor. I won't bring him up again," she said pouting. 

She said this intentionally to know his thoughts about the Rose Knight. She wanted to know what he thought of her.

Since she was bowing her head, she couldn't see his reaction. Bored to listen to the sound of rain,  she looked up. 

"What happened..?" he held her cheek with his hand. "Lexa… you… did you forget that day..?" he knitted his brows.

"Forget what?" Felixa asked. 

"That day we met when…" he rubbed his forehead with his long bony fingers.

Felixa tried to remember more from Wispy's memory about her meeting with Max. But all she got was a terrible headache. 

Headache and flashes of memory of Maximus and Wispy sitting near her mother's grave and talking something. She remembered bits and pieces of Maximus' voice but she couldn't get more of it. Holding her head, she tried to remember but it was hard for her.

"Lexa… Lexa…" Maximus held her hand and made her look at him. "If it is gone, don't try too hard to find it… It will come to when it will…" 

The corners of his lips lifted up with a slight smile that lit up his eyes and at the same time, she didn't fail to notice the little frown line between his eyes.

"This place… time is very powerful, isn't it? It metes punishments in its own way…" she asked to change the topic. 

She didn't want to suffer the ache either. But she wondered how he could understand her too well. Just when her pain became a tad bit unbearable, he stopped her.

"Time?" he snorted. "Time got nothing to do with it… It was Adonis Lukyan!"

Felixa knitted her brows and fisted her hands. 

[That's a name I haven't heard in a while… but what does he have to do with~ Wait… Did Luke…]

"After the death of the Rose Knight, that b-" Maximus paused and rubbed his chest. "Adonis decreed that the home of the Rose Knight should be cursed as a wasteland.  The old Knight living in the house protested and drew his sword to fight. But he was standing alone in front of a hundred knights and was defeated. Rather than giving him an easy death, he was impaled at the town square. Records show that the impalement was executed for two days and he was spat on by children to old men in the town…" Maximus stared at the distance.

Felixa felt like her heart stopped as Maximus spoke emotionlessly. 

[Grandpa… they did it to my grandpa? Why? Wasn't having me dead enough for Luke? Why did he come after the one family I had left?]

She wanted to wail but she sucked in a breath and stopped herself from showing her emotions in her face. She couldn't understand why Maximus is telling her this. 

"Then Adonis sent his mages here to curse the land so that it bears no fruit for an eon and that no clouds form over this place for a thousand years…" Maximus smiled looking up at the sky now pouring.

"Guess those mages couldn't put a curse that lasts…"  he added. 

Felixa was not in the mood to appreciate the mockery in his tone. Her head was filled with the betrayal of the man she once loved. Even if she betrayed him, he should have stopped it with her. What necessity did he find to touch her grandfather who served the king and country with all his heart?

Maximus touched his heart. He could feel the turbulence in his heart and knew that it is part of her feelings. He could feel rage, pain, and hurt. 

«I am sorry… You have to know what happened then… Only then…»

He sensed a movement at the upper level and he noticed a shadow swiftly dodging from his view. He heard little rumbles from there along with the sound of the water dripping from the roof. Closing his eyes he took in a deep breath.

In his mind, he could see a figure rummaging in the debris. His lips curved to a dangerous smirk.

«So he is here…»