Chapter 22: Bonds of the Heart
Kiara just stared, Magnus and Alec still at her side. The room was silent, but the tension was palpable to all, except for Helena and Alyssa. Kiara just stared, unbelieving, practically begging to wake up from the nightmare that was reality. Magnus glanced at Alec, who looked just as crushed as Kiara. Magnus also felt his heart break in his chest. He'd suffered from broken hearts and betrayals and lost loves. He'd seen the tragic repercussions of Tessa's love for Will, how his death had nearly destroyed her. And how the death of her children did as well. If it hadn't been for Brother Zachariah's yearly meetings with her and support from Magnus and Ragnor, Magnus didn't believe she would've survived, despite how strong she was. He'd had friends who'd lost love, who had been betrayed by love, who'd suffered unrequited love all their lives, or loved people who took advantage of them. He could honestly say that the heartbreak on his sister's face, and this betrayal of love, was one of the most horrible acts of cruelty he'd witnessed in his long, long life.
Helena, in the meantime, gave a breathy chuckle, as if the whole situation amused her slightly. But it was more condescending than genuine. Alyssa still stood at her side, her normally expressive and kind face now a mask of emotionlessness, like it was made of marble. Even her eyes seemed dead. Helena leaned back on the throne, resting her chin on her hand, crooked up by the throne's armrest.
"Oh, kitten," Helena sighed amusedly. "You rely so heavily on your heart and emotions to guide you. But what happens when those powerful emotions are used against you? They always are. You just never learned, did you? Despite everything you had mastered under my teachings and care, you remained stupid enough to keep your heart open."
As her former mentor and mother figure mocked her, Kiara stood there, tears streaming down her cheeks one by one.
Without a second though, Alec let his arrow fly, sending it straight towards Helena's heart. But Helena, quick as a viper, flicked her wrist. The arrow exploded, scattering splinters and a broken arrowhead. A couple splinters hit Kiara's body, but she didn't even flinch. Despite the multiple impalements that cause blood to drip off her exposed skin, she didn't move a muscle. She didn't even feel it. Helena lazily turned her gaze towards Alec, who had already loaded another arrow into his bow.
"Alexander Lightwood," Helena tsked. "I have no desire to deal with you or Magnus. It is beneath me to waste the effort."
Helena snapped her fingers, and suddenly Alec fell to the ground. His body felt heavy, like the weight of the world was pressed down on him. He collapsed to his knees, dropping his bow in the process. It hit the ground without a bounce, pushed flat against the ground under the extreme gravity surrounding him. Despite his best efforts and strength, Alec to all fours, until he sank to the ground. With much effort, he turned his head to see Magnus was suffering the same fate, the flames in his hands gone, struggling to move. Kiara remained upright, still frozen.
"Be a dear and bind them," Helena's voice ordered in a sickeningly sweet way. A light pair of footsteps descended the stairs. Alec forced his eyes up, and watched as Alyssa walked past her own wife, who stared ahead in a horror stricken trance. Her wife didn't even glance her way. Alyssa knelt down and grabbed Alec's arm, dragging him roughly towards one of the pillars. His body couldn't move, but he felt every scratch and pull and bump as he was dragged. She left his bow where it fell, and pushed his body against a pillar. Once she situated him there, a long set of chains appeared in her open hands, and the woman quickly used them to bind Alec's hands around the back of the marble structure. It made Alec's arms ache and strain, and the chains were pulled to tight that his arms felt as though they were bound to rip from their sockets. Despite this pain, however, Alec refused to flinch, refused to show fear or pain. Once she was done binding him, he stared her in the eye.
"I hope you got what you wanted," he whispered coldly, his words burning with malice and disgust. Alyssa stared back at him, refusing to break his gaze.
"My wants are of no relevance," she replied mechanically. "I exist to serve the true queen. Such is my duty."
"So you're telling me you feel nothing about breaking your own wife's heart?" Alec asked. This time, Alec thought he saw something. The tiniest, most minute flicker in her eyes. A millisecond where her lip twitched. But she didn't respond. She turned away and grabbed Magnus, dragging him to the pillar on the other side of the room, parallel to Alec's own. Alec struggled to turn to see Magnus, but the chains were tight, he would barely turn his head. He listened as he heard a body being dragged, then chains being secured. With all his strength, Alec turned as much as he could to look at Magnus. He was bloody, ragged and tired. He didn't say a word as he was bound in chains. Once he was secure, Alyssa walked past her wife once more, ascending the stairs to stand by Helena's side once again.
"Well done," Helena said. "Now, not only will I get to finally take back what's rightfully mine, but I have an audience to witness."
She was so fast, Alec didn't even see her move. One moment, Helena was sitting leisurely on the throne. The next, she stood at the bottom of the stairs, swords drawn. Her beautiful face twisted with a sickening, gleefully murderous smile, filled with razor sharp fangs. The next instant, she charged Kiara, barrelling into the other woman, slashing at her chest. Kiara didn't even attempt to dodge, taking the hit full on, a large X carved into her breastplate armor. She flew a few feet backwards and collapsed to the ground, unmoving. She made no attempt to get up, no sound of pain, barely the subtlest hint she was breathing at all. The only indication that she was still alive was the grunt she made as the hit the ground. Helena laughed maniacally.
"My darling kitten, are you still alive in there?" she asked mockingly, striding over to her former protégé. "Just because I broke your spirit, I was hoping you'd put up at least a bit of a fight."
"Alyssa…" Kiara barely mumbled. Helena continued to grin. Then she grabbed a fistful of Kiara's hair and pulled her upright, lifting her body until she was on her knees before Helena. Placing the tip of her sword to Kiara's throat, Helena bent down to look her straight in the eye. Kiara didn't flinch, her gaze down and looking as if she had already died.
"Do try to snap out of it child," Helena chided. "I have waited years to exact the punishment you deserve. If you just give up it takes all the fun away for me."
Kiara still said nothing. Only then did she begin to move her body. She placed her hands on the blade, grasping it tightly, her own fresh blood dripping down its tip onto her throat. Her eyes looked past Helena, as if she wasn't even there. Her gaze trained on the woman still standing motionless by her throne.
"It was all a lie?" she asked quietly, broken. Her voice sounded so small, so broken, like a child stricken by their loved ones. Alyssa stood firm at the throne, her expression still blank. However, after a moment, Alyssa then averted her gaze from her wife's eyes.
"Of course, my dear," Helena said. "After all, who could love a lying, throne stealing demon spawn such as yourself?"
"Then do it," Kiara said brokenly. Alec and Magnus watched in horror as she began to push the blade further towards her neck. The tip pushed into her throat, and a single drop of blood began to trail down the skin. Her grip on the blade tightened, staining her hands red with more blood. It must've been agonizingly painful, but Kiara felt nothing.
"Oh, you're so eager to die now, kitten," Helena said amusedly. "After all this time, despite everything you proclaimed about living for others, you now desire the selfish release of death?"
"Just do it," Kiara said again. Helena then threw Kiara to the ground and yanked the blade away from Kiara's through and out of her grip. The woman collapsed to the ground without a fight, lying on the ground like a broken corpse. Alec and Magnus both struggled to free themselves from their chains. Meanwhile, Helena placed her free hand on her chin and looked up, seemingly to mockingly consider what Kiara said.
"Well, that is tempting, I must admit," she began. "However, I don't think you've suffered enough for your betrayal my kitten. No, no. I believe that you deserve a long and severe punishment. And death? That would be far to simple. Especially since you want it now."
"My lady," Alyssa spoke, her tone still emotionless. "What do you mean by that?" Helena smiled a wicked smile once again, and proceeded to kick Kiara in the face, towards the direction of her throne. Her body flew back, tumbled a foot or so. Alec and Magnus continued to struggle and watch in horror as blood gushed from Kiara's nose. She remained emotionless, laying curled where she landed, not caring about the excruciating pain her shattered nose gave her.
"KIARA!" Magnus called, struggling against his chains harder. There was a desperation in his voice, raw and terrified. Alec had heard it before, when Max was still in that burning house. Alec doubled his resolve, trying to reach his wrist. If he could just dislocate one of his hands, he could slip through the chains. Just…had…to reach…
"To give her death now would be a mercy," Helena explained, slowly walking towards the broken woman's body at the foot of the stairs. "I have waited for this moment for years. I want to take my time." She then snapped her fingers and tight ropes bound Kiara's legs and feet to her hands. She was folded backwards, her back arching back towards her calves in an excruciating looking position. Helena then knelt down to her and replaced her sword in its sheathe, and took out a dagger from her boot. Slowly, she lightly dragged the top of the blade along Kiara's skin, starting at her face and working down to her chest.
"My lady," Alyssa began again, this time with the smallest quiver in her voice. "Is it really necessary?"
"It is entirely necessary," Helena replied gleefully, keeping her attention on the task at hand. "I cannot just kill Kiara. No, that my dear would make her a martyr. And the last thing I need is more people trying to follow her example. What I really need to do is destroy their faith in her. Destroy their hope in her. Show them that their precious queen is nothing but a broken little mess who never could have saved them."
"My lady…"
"I'm not going to kill her, not for a long time. I'll chain her up in this room, right by my throne. She'll be bound in chains, lying on the ground like a dog. Like the worthless animal she is. Every time someone approaches me, they will see exactly what happens when they do not obey."
"But…"
"Of course I will feed her, forcefully if necessary, but only enough to make sure she lives another day. I think I'll also take something of hers as a prize as well." Grabbing her hair once again, Helena lifted Kiara's head to stare up the stairs at the throne. Kiara's eyes immediately locked onto Alyssa's figure. Helena then dragged the dagger's point back up Kiara's face, stopping just above her eye.
"Look up child, look at your wife," she commanded. "She will be the last thing you ever see."
Kiara just stared ahead, without a hint of life to her face. She showed no fear, no pain, no tears and no anger. Her cat eyes were dull and empty, even as the blade's tip rested centimeters from them. She just stared at Alyssa, who seemingly went pale by the throne. Alec and Magnus continued to struggle, and Alec finally managed to grab hold of his hand, frantically trying to dislocate his thumb to slip through his shackles. Magnus was trying to burn through his own as well, frantically praying for Kiara to wake up.
"Now then," Helena said, lifting the dagger high, her face contorted in sociopathic delight and excitement. "Time to collect my prize!"
She swung her arm down, blade aimed right at Kiara's eye socket…
Only for it to be knocked away by another dagger.
Helena looked up in shock and rage. Her knife flew a few feet away, close to Magnus's feet. Alec and Magnus both stopped struggling for a moment. Kiara's eyes widened, her blank face finally shifting from blank and empty to pure and utter shock. Helena seethed with rage as she turned towards the throne.
"Alyssa," she growled softly, her voice laced with venom. "You dare defy your queen at her moment of glory?"
Alyssa's arm was still raised from where she had thrown her own knife, seemingly frozen in place. Her face displayed nothing but shock and disbelief.
"Your—your majesty!" she exclaimed in shock. "For-forgive me! I don't know what—"
"Silence," Helena ordered, her voice thunderous. Alyssa's mouth shut with an audible snap, and she jumped to a soldier's position, arms at her sides and legs pressed together. Her eyes filled with terror.
"Alyssa," Helena began again slowly. "I shall ask you this…why do you dare defy your queen?"
"I…I…"
"Answer the question before I choose to end your life rather than spare it for your transgression."
"I, my lady, I don't know what came over me. I swear, it will not happen again."
"Let us test that, then," Helena said. "Come join me."
"My lady…"
"I'm waiting."
Alyssa stared for a moment, looking down at Helena and Kiara, then glancing at Alec and Magnus. She looked terrified, but slowly, step by step, descended the throne's stairs. Her steps were uneven, taken on trembling legs. The skin of her face became more pale with every passing step, by the time she reached the two women she looked like a ghost. Helena then held out the dagger's hilt in her direction. Alyssa took it without question. Helena then positioned herself behind Kiara, raising her to her knees again, then holding her face to stare at her wife.
"Now then, all will be forgiven if you just prove yourself," Helena said calmly. "Collect my prize for me."
"My lady, I thought you—"
"This will make her suffer even more. The last thing she sees will not only be her wife, but the one being responsible for taking out her eyes. She'll see the truth of what her love has brought, nothing but betrayal and pain, by a woman who never loved her to begin with."
Alyssa stared at the dagger in her hand, then back to Kiara and Helena. She weighed the dagger in her trembling hand. It shook so violently that even Magnus and Alec could see it from their positions. Her face twisted in a strange way. SO many emotions flashed before her eyes. Confusion, disgust, fear, shock, too many to discern.
"Prove yourself to me and all is forgiven," Helena said, her voice hypnotizing. "Now, obey your queen."
Then, Alyssa's face went blank once more.
"As you wish my queen," she said mechanically.
"Alyssa," Kiara whispered, only to earn a slap from one of the hands holding her head in place.
"Quiet, your pleas will spoil the event. If you really want to entertain me, just scream when she plucks your eyes out." Alyssa began to raise the dagger in her hand, looking poised to strike.
"Alyssa," Kiara began again, despite the additional slap. Her voice was quiet, meek, but solid. "Please, Alyssa, I love you. I know you never loved me, but as your wife, I ask for one thing." Alyssa's hand hesitated. Helena chuckled.
"What is it?" Alyssa asked in that same mechanical tone. Despite her pain and despite the blood dripping from her nose and the way her chest filled with darkness, Kiara looked to her wife with a smile so full of love that it shocked everyone.
"I ask you, please, when I finally die, bury me in our garden," she said softly. "Where we first met."
"Why?" Alyssa asked, a small tremble in her voice. Kiara closed her eyes and continued to smile, looking strangely peaceful despite the promise of excruciating pain about to befall her.
"Because, that day was the happiest of my life."
"How quaint, you still follow your heart even after it has been shattered," Helena mocked cruelly. "Oh child, you never learn. Now, Alyssa, fulfill your duty."
But Alyssa didn't move. Hand still raised above her head, she stared in shock at her own wife, who smiled peacefully despite the fact she was about to lose her eyes. She trembled, the mask on her face crumbling piece by piece. Magnus and Alec watched, holding their breath. Her breathing became more labored, her hand shook uncontrollably.
"How?" she asked quietly, her voice full of shock and disbelief. "How can you still think that day was happy? I met you under orders of my queen. I was her spy. I helped her infiltrate your land and murder your people. Why? WHY ARE YOU SMILING?!"
"Because…because since meeting you, my life has been brighter and happier than it ever was. Even if it was all a lie, it was a beautiful lie. So I guess I should thank you for that brief and beautiful happiness, until my unholy life returned to the torment I knew." By this time, tears were streaming down Alyssa's cheeks.
"You—you—"
"Alyssa!" Helena shouted. "DO IT NOW!"
Alyssa screamed as she swung her arm down. Alec and Magnus screamed as well, crying out for her to stop.
Then Helena screamed as well, the dagger impaled in her hand.
Releasing Kiara's head, Helena staggered back and clutched her hand as blood gushed down her arm. The dagger sank clean through her palm, buried to the hilt. Alyssa stood frozen in shock as she stared at her queen. Then, she stared down at Kiara, wearing an equally shocked expression. Alec and Magnus resumed their struggling as Helena ripped the knife out of her hand. She turned her gaze towards the women once more. Her eyes burned with hate.
"So, it seems you've become thoroughly corrupted Alyssa. Such a shame."
In a flash, Helena ran towards the two women, swords drawn. Before she could strike them down though, an arrow hit her in the shoulder. Alec had finally managed to break free of his chains. A moment later, a mass of demonic fire hit Helena as well. Taking the moment of distraction, Kiara shoved herself and Alyssa out of the blade's path.
"Damn you all!" Helena roared. With a monstrous cry, the room began to quake and the temperature rose exponentially. Thick red flames engulfed Helena. They swirled around her body, covering it until it was no longer visible. The remaining windows blew apart, parts of columns crumbled to dust, the throne was blasted off of it's perch. Alec fought against the force, trying to get closer to Magnus, while Alyssa hastily tried to undo the ropes still tying up Kiara's limbs. Then the flames vanished, and a thick smell of sulfur erupted through the room.
In Helena's place stood a monstrous creature. It's skin was covered in blood red stripes, which flickered and pulsed with demonic energy. The stone at her feet burned like molten lava, while the air around her sizzled and smoked. Her hands had massive claws, and her teeth were now fangs, dripping with a horrifying green liquid. Black wings protruded from her back. Slowly, it turned and set its ferocious feline eyes upon them all.
"It seems you must learn to fear a god," Helena said, her voice warped and hoarse. Lifting a single finger, she pointed at them, and a dozen flames appeared in the sky around her. Then they flew right at them, scattering. All four of them scrambled to avoid the blasts, watching in horror as the places the fire impacted were burned away instantly, leaving massive craters in the stone floor.
"You're no god!" Magnus shouted. "You're just a sociopath with a god complex."
"Enough!"
The next thing Magnus knew, he was blasted into the wall. He felt bones snap and shatter on impact, before collapsing to the ground. To his left, he saw Alec in a similar position almost ten feet away. His head was bleeding, but he was still breathing somewhat normally.
He turned his head when he heard the roar of a tiger coming from the other side of the room. From the dust and rubble, a massive tiger appeared and charged for Helena. Without a second glance, Helena drew her sword, quick as lightning, and hurled it at the beast. The tiger was able to change course so the weapon wouldn't hit its torso, but it wasn't quick enough to avoid the weapon entirely. It released a pained yowl as the sword lodged itself into the tiger's back leg. Collapsing on the ground in pain, the feline shrunk in size until Alyssa appeared again, somehow fully clothed, clutching her leg in agony.
"Fool," Helena's distorted voice stated. The sword then burst into flames, and Alyssa screamed in agony at the pain.
"You had a chance to rule under me, Alyssa. Out of all my soldiers, all my spies, you had succeeded. Yet at the moment of victory, you choose betrayal."
"I—I did do your bidding," Alyssa ground out through the pain, still clutching her leg. "You were my queen. But—but I guess, my acting, my love—it became real."
"And you would give your life for her instead of to your queen?"
"It would seem that way, your majesty," Alyssa answered with quiet resignation.
"Then you have chosen destruction." Helena stalked close to Alyssa, before violently tearing the flaming sword out of her leg. Alyssa screamed again in agony, blood pouring from her wound. Helena lifted the blade to Alyssa's neck.
"To think, you would succumb to a weakness as love. Strong enough to defy a god."
A loud laugh erupted from behind the two, loud and mocking and too hard to be real. Magnus laid in his spot on the ground, laughing his ass off. Helena removed her blade from Alyssa's neck and turned to the warlock some twenty feet away from her.
"What is so amusing?"
"She's not choosing love over a god! She's choosing love over a sociopath! I'd make the same choice." Magnus continued to laugh like a madman, seeming to find the entire situation far too funny than it should be. Alec and Alyssa both stared at him, Alyssa in confusion and fear. Alec stared in shock and fear, frantically worrying if Magnus was hit in the head so hard he was suffering from a concussive delusional state. Helena turned to him fully, her face unamused and cold.
"You dare laugh at a god?" This made Magnus laugh harder.
"If you're a god, then I'm head of the Clave!" Magnus laughed harder this time, now struggling to lift himself up. His entire being shook with laughter. Alec became more worried each second. He became even more terrified when Helena appeared before him in an instant, pulling him up and slamming him against the stone wall again, pinning him there.
"MAGNUS!" he cried, struggling to stand. However, his leg was pinned under a particularly large piece of broken pillar, and he couldn't move it with his battered and bruised body.
"You shall know fear, Magnus Bane," Helena said as she materialized another fiery dagger. She held it to Magnus's face, not quite touching his skin, but close enough to burn.
"I only fear acid wash jeans," Magnus smiled without a trace of fear. Helena growled and threw Magnus to the ground again. He landed with a hard thud, groaning as he did so.
"Please, not so rough! We haven't even established safe words yet."
"I have had enough of this," Helena said. "It is time you reunite with your father."
Before she could make another move, however, another explosion rocked the room. Helena stumbled back for a moment before an unseen force blasted her away from Magnus. After rolling back for a moment, Helena regained her balance, and opened her wings, hovering in the center of the room. Her face was twisted in rage as she tried to charge forward again. However, an unseen force stopped her from getting any closer to Magnus. Then, thick, red smoke began to surround Magnus and block him from view.
"Thanks for the distraction Magnus," a new voice said from the fog. Helena gave a humorless chuckle, while Alyssa gasped in shock.
"Well, it seems you still live, kitten," Helena said. "You were gone so long I thought you had perished."
"Too bad for you," Kiara's voice rang from the smoke. "I just needed time."
"Some sort of last attempt to stop me? Do not be foolish. You cannot rival the power of a god." From the smoke, a humorless chuckle resounded.
"You know," Kiara's voice began quietly, ice and venom pouring out. "There are a lot of things I can tolerate when it comes to you. When you first tried to have me killed…I coped with it, and returned your scouts alive and unharmed as a sign of mercy, and possible good faith. All those times you blew apart pieces of my kingdom, my castle, my home…I knew that it could be rebuilt in time. Every life you took from the people in this kingdom…those lives that have nothing to do with our feud, I was so angry with you for doing that…making families suffer and hearts break. But I still didn't attack because I didn't want to risk further death, not just to my people, but yours as well. Or maybe I was holding out the tiniest bit of hope that maybe, you weren't the complete monster that you are."
"A foolish mistake, believing you can kill me," Helena said.
"I can handle a lot when it comes to you. You can berate my existence as worthless, you can use my emotions to break my heart, you can manipulate my love against me, hell, you can even team up with my father, and I'm pretty sure I would be able to tolerate it. I'd be pissed, but would still show some semblance of mercy. After all, despite who you truly are, you did save my life. For so long, I see now that I used that simple reason as an excuse to hold back, to show you mercy. But now, I've reached my limit."
As she spoke, the smoke began to swirl faster, as if it were being sucked in by a vacuum. Alec watched in awe and hope as the view began to clear, praying that Magnus was safe. Off to the right, Alyssa began to regain consciousness, staring in awe at the debris swirling away, transfixed by her wife's voice. Helena's eyes filled with the smallest hint of fear.
"I am tired of you harming those I care for," Kiara's voice continued, getting louder and angrier as the smoke swirled faster and faster. "You killed Queen Milan. You brainwashed thousands of people. You turned my best friend against me. You sent Alyssa here as your spy and it worked. You made thousands of children orphans and thousands of parents lose their child. You…you killed my people, you killed your own children. You attacked my home, you sent spies after my brother and his family. You nearly caused the death of my nephew. And now you threaten my brother, my wife and my brother in law. I've finally run out of patience and mercy. If you try to hurt my big brother again...I swear on everything holy and satanic… I'LL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS!"
As she yelled that last part, it felt like a sonic boom had erupted in the room. The force pushed everyone, Alec further into the pillar, Alyssa towards the wall, and even Helena was forced a step back. It also pushed all the debris away, causing dust and broken furnishings to fly into all the walls. Smoke cleared, and the two siblings were visible. Magnus still lay on the ground, injured but alive and conscious, staring up at the figure in front of him. Alec and Alyssa gasped as they saw Kiara, and when Helena turned pale as a sheet, but her face remained impassive.
Kiara stood in front of her older brother, arms still outstretched from casting her counter spell. Her golden-green cat eye blazed in anger as she stared at her adoptive mother. As she lowered her arms, blue fire began to swirl swiftly all around them, as if they were itching to charge at someone and destroy them. But that wasn't what had shocked them.
Covering the queen's skin was a series of black and gold stripes that shimmered and hummed as if they were alive on her flesh. Her hair was longer, shaggier, now pitch black and wild, like a lion's mane. Around her feet, the stone began to boil red, as if she was now standing on lava. At her hips, the blades on her belt began to glow, nearly blindingly pure white. The razor sharp fangs in her mouth were oozing with green liquid that sizzled and burned holes in the lava/stone floor at her feet. Her breastplate was now gold instead of black, with a pair of angel wings on it that were surrounded by black fire that was forming horrifying faces.
Alyssa began to cry of joy as she stared at her wife. Alec was shocked out of his mind, but none the less smiled in relief and growing hope. Helena gave a deep, threatened growl in the back of her throat, back hunching as she bared her fangs towards her daughter. And Magnus? Magnus just looked up at his sister for a moment, and then laid his head down on the floor, giving an exasperated, tired sigh.
"It's about damn time," he muttered as he closed his eyes to rest for a moment. But there was a proud, relaxed smile on his face.
Kiara had finally mastered the Queen's Angelic Demon transformation.
I'm back! Oh my god it's a miracle! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please, please, PLEASE leave a like and or a comment! I hope I'll have the next chapter up soon, but, as we all know, I can't make any promises.
Love KiaraBaneTMI
