Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 150: Danger (1)

Away from the Hastings castle, Dante led his men towards where there were sightings of Kaden.

Dante followed where his people pointed him to. It wasn’t long before Dante tracked down the duke and found Kaden waiting for him.

Dante rode ahead as Kaden did the same so they could speak alone.

"Why are you creating trouble on my land, Your Grace?" Dante asked, said in a mocking tone.

"Because I felt like it. When it was my land covered in blood, no one found issue with it," Kaden answered.

"I don’t recall being the one to attack you and your family. Why don’t you go after the man responsible, or are you going to go after everyone who didn’t have a part in it? That’s not the answer, and it makes you a bit cowardly in my eyes," said Dante.

Kaden scoffed. "I don’t care how I look to you. I’ll burn this kingdom down to get my revenge. Tell me, why shouldn’t I kill you?"

"I could tell you why you can’t kill me," Dante said, but he welcomed Kaden to try. "I would prefer we wouldn’t have to fight since I want to get back to my wife. You disturbed a very important time for me, and now, I don’t like you."

"I thought you didn’t like me before?" Kaden asked, amused by Dante’s behaviour.

"Your hatred was always one-sided, but now, I really don’t like you. You could have picked a better time to storm my land, or gone after someone else. You don’t trouble newlyweds," Dante scolded Kaden.

"You’re not a newlywed anymore, and besides, why should I care when I wasn’t invited to the wedding? Your family stood by as my family was slaughtered-"

"I recall my father marching his army there, but it was too late, and we stood against the king. Was I to fly there? Stop taking your anger out on the wrong families and go after the one who aimed his sword at your family. If you want my help, this is not the way to get it," Dante said, disappointed with Kaden’s approach.

Kaden laughed, humoured by Dante. "Your help? The king told you to get married, and you jumped to do it. I’m a little disappointed in you, Dante. You always appeared to be a man who wouldn’t bow to his order, but then you went and disappointed me."

"Luckily for me, I didn’t care to impress you. I have my reasons for what I do. I am sorry about your family, but if you have killed innocent families on my land, I will kill you and give you a long-awaited reunion," Dante said, moving his right hand to his sword.

Kaden scowled, angered by Dante’s disrespect. "Careful, Dante. If you want to make it home to your wife, I suggest you be careful when speaking of my family. I didn’t kill any families, but I did get rid of a few spies from the palace. How will you thank me?"

"Thank you," Dante replied.

"See, this is why you are hated by many. You have this way of getting under others’ skin," Kaden said, tempted to kill Dante, but he needed him. "You put on quite the show at the palace just to ask for a measly wish to have your wife’s brother."

"If you don’t want to be burned by my vengeance, I suggest you come to my side. The king will always try to discover your secrets, and when he’s had enough, he’ll kill you. You made it too obvious that you love your pretty little wife. He’ll take her first," said Kaden.

"You could have sent an invitation to my castle for us to meet instead of storming onto my land and disrupting my time. You must get better at getting others’ attention. What do you intend to do when the king is dead? Support the crown prince?" Dante asked, curious about the extent of Kaden’s plans.

"Support Sebastian? That bastard is just as bad as his whoring father. There are other princes to use, but if they aren’t suitable, a relative of the king can sit on the throne. You either join me and don’t be burned, or you meet your father in the afterlife. I’ll send your wife with you," Kaden offered.

"It doesn’t feel good, does it?" Kaden asked, referring to what Dante did to him earlier.

"I don’t trust you," Dante spoke honestly. "We’re not friends for me to believe you won’t stab me in the back. You want everyone dead. Hell, you’ll kill innocent people to have your way. I prefer that if I attack at the same time as you, we simply don’t point our swords at each other and go our own ways."

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have come to your castle with all that I have. I could have slaughtered all the families I passed on my way here, but I didn’t. They didn’t kill my family; the king did. All because that bastard set his eyes on a woman he couldn’t have," Kaden said, gripping the reins of his horse.

"I have heard that the king has a growing interest in your wife. He won’t be long before he recreates what he did with my family. Claim to have proof that we are traitors, so he could go after the men and take the women. I was lucky to be a boy then to be spared," said Kaden.

Kaden didn’t see any reason for Dante to remain a loyal dog to Edward.

"If you care for your wife, I suggest you join me in getting rid of Edward. Don’t wait too late and die, allowing him to take her into his palace. You know what cruel fate will await her there. I’ll give you some time to consider it. In the meantime, I want to explore your land," Kaden said, deciding to stay.

"You have your dukedom. Return to it and stay off my land. There’s no place for you to rest here. Surely, you don’t think I would allow you to rest in my castle," said Dante.

"I wouldn’t stay there even if it would save my life. I’ve taken up camp at the home of a dear friend. We shall be seeing more of each other soon. Tell your wife I send my greetings and apologise for disturbing you. I prepared the heads of the spies for you to take as a gift," Kaden said, guiding his horse to move on.

Dante was thankful for the peace, but he still hated Kaden for making him leave the comfort of his chamber forsmall talk that could have been handled in letters.

Dante saw Kaden off until all that remained were the heads of men Dante knew were followers of Edward. It didn’t come as a surprise that there were spies on his land since Edward had done it before to find out the Hastings secrets.

"We’re going home!" Dante yelled to the knights.

For now, Kaden’s life was spared.