Night Lover (G!P) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 28

Dr. Lewis then saw Ryujin's ring.

"Is that what I think it is?" he inquired "A general's ring?"

Ryujin nodded.

"Yes."

"Do you mind if I take a look at it?"

Ryujin took it from her and offered it to him. Dr. Lewis held his breath.

"Macedonian? I think from the second century BC."

"Exactly."

"That's an amazing reproduction" Ben commented, as he handed it back to her.

Ryujin put it back on.

"It's not a reproduction"

"It can't be!" gasped Ben, incredulous "It can't be original, it's exceedingly old"

"A private collector had it" Lia pointed out. Ben kept looking at her, only to instantly turn his attention back to Ryujin.

"How did you get it?" he asked her.

Ryujin was slow to answer as she remembered the day it was given to her.

Kyrian of Thrace and her had been promoted at the same time, after saving, practically the two of them alone, the city of Themopolis from the clutches of the Romans.

It had been a long, bloody and brutal battle. Her army had scattered, leaving Kyrian and her alone to defend the city.

Ryujin had expected Kyrian to abandon her as well, but the idiot had smiled at her, holding a sword in each hand, and said, "It's a beautiful day to die. What do you say we kill a few Roman bastards before we pay Charon?"

Kyrian of Thrace, a complete and utter lunatic, had always had more
guts than brains. When it was all over, they drank until they ended up under the tables. And the next morning, they were awakened with the news of the promotion.

By the gods! Of all the people she had met in Macedonia, Kyrian was the one she missed the most. He was the only one who always had her back and stood up for her.

"It was a gift," Ryujin replied to Ben.

He glanced at Ryujin's hand, his eyes heavy with greed.

"Would you consider selling it? I would be willing to pay whatever you asked"

"Never" Ryujin replied, remembering the wounds she had received during the battle of Temopolis "You don't know what I went through to get it."

Ben shook his head.

"I wish someone would ever give me a gift like that. Do you have the slightest idea what they'd give you for it?"

"Last time I checked, they offered me my weight in gold."

Ben let out a laugh and slapped his hand on Lia's desk.

"Very good. That was the price to free a captured general, wasn't it?"

"For those cowards who weren't capable of dying fighting, yes."

Ben's eyes showed new respect as he looked at Ryujin.

"Do you know who it belonged to?"

Lia replied.

"To Ryujin of Macedonia. Have you ever heard of her, Ben?"

He stood with his mouth open and his eyes like saucers.

"Are you serious? Don't you know who it was?"

Lia made a strange expression. Assuming she didn't know, Ben
continued speaking.

"Thessius said of her that she was going to be the new Alexander the Great. Ryujin was the daughter of Diocles of Sparta, also known as Diocles the Butcher. That man would make the Marquis de Sade look like Ronald McDonald. According to rumors, Ryujin was born from a relationship between Aphrodite and the general, after Diocles saved one of the goddess' temples from being desecrated. The most widespread opinion today is that her mother was one of the temple's priestesses."