This is the last chapter! I hope you guys have enjoyed the story! I know I have :)
Review Replies:
Lunar678: I'm so glad you love the story!
Mystic twilight princess: well I guess you'll just have to read the chapter and find out :)
Brenda: let's hope Kiara and/or Kyrian finds a way out of that contract
Dietrich2234: You and I can agree about Kyrian (which should be obvious since I wrote a story about Kyrian haha) Kyrian is absolutely awesome! We'll both be sad; I've kind of become attached to these characters haha
Quote of the Chapter:
"Marriage is an adventure, like going to war."
~Adara from Brotherhood of the Sword
Chapter 21: The End
Kyrian
Kyrian woke up at the sound of shuffling around the room. He didn't make any sudden movements in case it was an enemy. However, with one glance, he realized it was just Kiara, quietly packing a suitcase. He silently padded over to her and started helping her pack. Neither of them said anything, at least not at first. It took about twenty minutes before Kyrian broke the silence.
"Will you come visit me?" he whispered. Kiara stopped packing and looked at him.
"I'll try, Kyrian, I will, but I have no idea what to expect being Apollo's wife and all…" she hung her head, staring at the shirt she was packing.
"If there was any way to stop this, you know I'd do it, right?"
"The only way you could stop this is if you somehow got him to injure me and let's face it, Apollo would rather die than let that happen. Come on, I'll go make us some breakfast."
Kyrian nodded and stood up. The two of them headed downstairs silently; Kiara started making bacon and pancakes while Kyrian attempted to help. However, after he nearly caught the house on fire, he stopped and allowed Kiara to do all the cooking.
Within ten minutes, breakfast was ready and they went back upstairs, their plates in hand. Kiara continued to multitask, eating and packing at the same time. Kyrian just sat solemnly on the bed, nibbling at his food.
"What time is Capri-sun supposed to get here?" Kyrian queried.
"Capri-sun? Really?" Kiara raised her eyebrows, but she was grinning. "I don't know; kind of hoping he won't but I know he will."
"He's not letting you get away that easily," he replied with a humorless chuckle.
"Tell me something I don't know," she grumbled. Kyrian got up and walked over to her, making her stand up.
"Think if we run away together, he'll find us?"
"I'd find you," Apollo's voice replied. The two Dark-Hunters whipped their heads around to face the god.
"Oh! Apollo, I did not think you would be here this soon," Kiara said.
"I didn't think so either but I took care of some chores so I was able to come early," Apollo explained cheerfully. Sparing a glance at Kyrian, he said disgustedly, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm with the woman who should be marrying me, not a pompous ass god who was only able to get her to marry him by a deal to save me," the male Dark-Hunter growled. Apollo's eyes flashed as he lifted his hand, looking like he was preparing to snap.
"One snap of my fingers, Dark-Hunter, and those curtains open, making you burn to dust."
"Apollo, Kyrian, enough of this," Kiara ordered, stepping between the two of them. "Apollo, you hurt him, and our deal is off. Do you understand me?"
The god reluctantly lowered his hand. "There are times when I wish I hadn't agreed to save your pathetic ass."
"I'm going to get the rest of my stuff packed. Behave, both of you," she commanded before turning around and heading towards her suitcase. Kyrian and Apollo glowered at each other but did nothing. Something was happening inside Kyrian's brain. It was going back centuries and centuries ago, back to when he was a human, the Prince of Thrace.
Back to the day when he found out Kiara was 'dead.'
"Julian! Hurry up would you? My father is going to kill me if I am late!" Kyrian grunted.
"Kiara needs to get back soon. You are so much pleasanter to be with when she is around," Julian replied casually as he mounted his horse.
"I just hope nothing has happened to her. It is a dangerous world out there and if Abbadon gets a hold of her, he can control my every move."
"Let us pray to the gods that does not happen. Come, Kyrian, we must be off," Julian urged. At that, they galloped off towards the palace. Kyrian's father was waiting for the two warriors in his throne room. Some of the other generals, lower in ranking than Kyrian and Julian, were also present. Kyrian was able to count two or three of the generals who held contempt for him since he had become a general at so young an age but no matter what, none of them could disagree that Kyrian was the top fighter in the Thracian military.
"Hello father," Kyrian greeted with a bow. Julian followed in suit. "Any word from Kiara?"
"No, but give it time. Her mother is very ill, and she may not have time to give word to us at the current moment. Be patient my son."
"I do not like being patient. I want to know if my wife is well," the Thracian prince retorted.
"Watch your tone with me. Now, I wanted to discuss with you the current battle strategies you and Julian have come with on how to counter Roman forces if need be."
The two generals obeyed and laid out their plans quickly and concisely. The room was stuffy and they desired to get out of there as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the other generals had many questions, unnecessary, annoying questions, Kyrian thought. It took an hour and a half before he and Julian could escape the hell hole.
"Gods, I hate being in there in the summer," Julian grouched.
"I have to go in there every day. Stop your whining," Kyrian snapped airily. "I am going to my room, get a little bit of rest before our training session. I shall see you soon."
Julian nodded and went off towards his house on the outskirts of the palace grounds. All the top generals lived within a five minute run of the palace's throne room in case of an emergency. Kyrian walked leisurely up to his room, allowing his thoughts to run free about multiple things: Kiara, killing Romans, conquering more territory for his future kingdom, training, and other things. However, his focus remained on Kiara. He smiled at the thought of the fiery blonde that he was proud to call his wife. She was one of the only women who had the audacity (at least many people called it that) to banter with the other generals as if she was their equal. Technically, she was, and then she also wasn't. In case Kyrian died during his time as king, she would take over command. But, she was also a woman, and women were below men's ranking. Kyrian found it rather inspiring, her boldness in joining conversations. The generals loved her though and slowly became accustomed to letting her join. Of course, she didn't give them much choice. Kyrian had just removed his armor and donned a toga when someone knocked on his door. Opening it, Kyrian found a blonde messenger, about his height, young, and with startling blue eyes. The man looked sorrowful.
"Your highness?"
"Yes, what is your business here?" Kyrian tried to hide his exasperation from having his thoughts interrupted but he still heard a little of it in his voice. He was much nicer when Kiara was around. She had that effect on him.
"I-I regret to inform you that a couple weeks ago, your wife, her highness Kiara of Thrace, was killed during an ambush on her way to Greece. We got the word to you as soon as we could-"
"Go. Now. Please," Kyrian commanded. The messenger needed no further encouragement and he fled. The prince slammed his door shut and sank against the wall in shock. The tears poured down his face involuntarily. He prayed to the gods that no one found him like this but that was only for his reputation. In all honesty, if someone started to make fun of him for crying over his wife, he'd kill them without second thoughts.
Sometime, he wasn't sure when, the tears stopped, drying up on his face. Afterwards, he just stared outside his window that was conveniently located right in front of him on the opposite side of the room. The sky was crystal blue, cheerful and sunny. It should've been rainy and dark; a day as horrible as this did not deserve to have the sun shining.
Julian found him, still slumped against the same wall.
"My gods, Kyrian! What is the matter with you?!" Julian demanded.
"She's dead," Kyrian choked out. "Kiara. Ambushed…"
His friend turned pale as he kneeled down. "Does your father know?"
"No, I-I haven't moved since I found out."
"Which was when?"
"A little bit after I had come up to my room."
You've been here for a little over two hours. We need to alert your father. Come," Julian said gently, outstretching his hand for Kyrian to take.
"Julian? If I ever find the person who led the ambush that killed Kiara, I will kill them," Kyrian vowed.
"I do not doubt you."
Staring at Apollo, Kyrian murmured, "I will kill them."
"What did you just say?" the god demanded.
"I said 'I will kill them.'"
"What the hell are you talking about Dark-Hunter?" Apollo disgusted.
"The person that killed Kiara, or supposedly killed her. The messenger who told me she was dead lied to me."
"Why in Zeus's all mighty name are you thinking of that right now?" Apollo queried furiously, but Kyrian could see his flustered attitude was more than just because of his daydreaming.
"Because the messenger was you," Kyrian stated flatly. There was a small crash from behind him; it was Kiara. She had dropped her brush.
"You're lying," Apollo growled. "You're just saying anything to try and get the deal to be broken."
"I swear on the Styx that I am not lying, that it was you who told me she was dead. For what? Your own personal gain? So you could gain a new fighter because you couldn't keep your other ones alive? Because you thought I wouldn't care I'd lost my wife? Did you think you would never be found out? Did you think she would fall in love with you? Let me tell you something: Kiara doesn't love you. She loves me. Nothing you ever do can change the fact. The only reason she's marrying you is so I would stay alive. That is not love Apollo. You don't have to be Aphrodite to know that," Kyrian ranted. Kiara stood behind him, trembling.
"Apollo…" She murmured. "Please tell me it's not true."
"It's not true!" he protested in anguish. "Don't believe him! Are you going to believe me, the one you could count on for centuries without fail, or are you going to believe the man who cheated on you? Who killed you?"
Kiara stood perfectly still, and in a surprisingly calm voice, ordered, "Swear it wasn't you on the Styx."
"I-what?"
"You heard me Apollo. Either it wasn't you who told him or it was. The Styx will determine that."
"I don't have to do anything."
"Then I will assume you are the one who told him."
Apollo stared maliciously at Kyrian. "You, I knew I should've disposed of you in the beginning. You are dead to me Dark-Hunter."
In the flash of an eye, Apollo snapped his fingers, opening the curtains in Kiara's room. She screamed out in horror while Kyrian stumbled back, trying to find shade, protection from the deadly sun. But he wasn't quick enough. The rays hit him and he felt their warmth strike his bare skin, but instead of a severe burning, nothing happened. The rays stayed on his skin, they remained warm, but they weren't burning him.
"What the hell?!" Apollo shouted. "You're supposed to die damn it!"
"Kyrian… y-you're standing-" Kiara trailed off, but a smile was slowly forming on her beautiful face.
"It must be from when you made me drink your blood to help my healing process," Kyrian mused, giving a breathy chuckle from the shock of his new power.
"If you will not die by sun, you will die by my hand."
"Touch him, you will never be able to have any more kids," Kiara growled, advancing on the god. "Now do as I say: swear on the Styx you weren't the messenger who lied to Kyrian."
Apollo stayed silent for a few moments. "I can't," he finally admitted. "Because it was me."
Kyrian felt a certain smug satisfaction inside him but it vanished when he saw Kiara's expression. It was obvious she hadn't actually believed Apollo had been the messenger who had lied to Kyrian about her 'death,' but now that he had actually come out and said it, the truth was hitting her hard.
"Everything Kyrian and I went through, all the pain, the suffering, the tears, it was all because of you. How? Why? Why me?" she pleaded.
For the first time in Kyrian's life, he saw a god looking completely remorseful, totally ashamed. "I met you on your first trip to the city of Thrace; I was in the disguise as a little boy. You had prayed to me earlier for an easy transition into the kingdom. I went to see if you deserved it and in the process of deciding it, I fell in love with you."
Kyrian remembered Kiara gushing about the little boy when she'd come home later that day. The boy had followed her all around the city, given her flowers and jewelry. He'd been completely infatuated with her; apparently, he still was.
"You ruined my life, Apollo. I was happy, I was in love with him, I still am. I was accepted into that kingdom, and for your own selfish reasons, you broke it all. I can't believe you!" Kiara rambled, shaking her head as if trying to convince herself none of this was true.
"Kiara, stop, stop, you're going to break the deal!" Apollo begged.
"No… no. What you did… I can't forgive you for. You tortured me. You allowed for the man I loved to be killed, and you let me blame him for everything that went wrong when in reality, it was all you. I want you out of my house, out of my life, and I want it to stay that way. I never want to see you again."
"Kiara…" Apollo whispered.
"Out!" She barked, tears falling down her face. "You have hurt me in a way you can't even imagine. I will never be your queen; I will never be your wife."
A bright flash of light went through the room, blinding Kyrian briefly. When it was gone, Apollo had disappeared, and he asked Kiara, "What just happened?"
She turned around. Tears were dried on her cheeks, her eyes were bloodshot, but she was smiling. "Well, Mr. Hunter, Apollo couldn't take me yelling at him anymore, and that deal I made with him?" She came up to him and whispered into his ear: "It's broken. I am a free, single woman."
"Like hell you're single," Kyrian growled playfully before lifting her up in his arms and kissing her. "So, are we human now? Your eyes, they're not black like they used to be."
"Yes, we are human now, but Apollo was kind enough to leave our Dark Hunter powers with us."
"How nice of him," Kyrian said in amusement. "You know, when I was younger, a lot, lot younger, I always heard stories of men killing to get their women back and I thought they were complete idiots for letting a woman control them like that."
"Oh really?"
"Now I classify myself as one of those men; I would kill anyone who tried to harm you. And if you were taken, I'd kill anyone and everyone who got in my way."
"Even if it was Nick?" Kiara inquired with a smirk.
"With that Cajun mouth of his, he has it coming," Kyrian joked. "How do you women make us men start wars over you?"
"It's a woman's secret," she replied. "Well now, what do we do now? We have this whole house to ourselves, no one's here…"
"I can think of many things," Kyrian answered with a mischievous gleam in his eyes, which was returned by Kiara.
"Lead the way, general."
All right, I lied, I'm going to write an epilogue for the story haha it'll be really short but still! Please review if you enjoyed! I hope you guys didn't think I'd actually make Kiara marry Apollo. Anyways, like I said, review!