The General and the Princess

Chapter 43 || Kiva

Inver ordered the Lavri Resistance to comb the grounds for remaining enemies, wounded compatriots, and weapons that could still be reused. Wagons carried wounded Resistance members to the hospital, but no mercy was given to Sarian survivors; they were killed upon discovery. There was no room for captives in the Resistance. Inver sent a single survivor to Vinrys in the east to carry news of their resounding defeat.

Kiva worked alongside her compatriots to search for survivors and kill wounded Sarians. She helped carry the bodies of dead Lavrians to the clearing at the center of Mevyl for a memorial service, but dead Sarians were stripped of their possessions and burned. Each time Kiva found a groaning Sarian who still had breath in his lungs, she looked away and plunged her sword into his heart. They had to remain a faceless enemy.

Kiva knew she should feel remorse for the men she had slaughtered. She knew she should at least think of them as individuals rather than as a faceless mass, but she felt nothing but numbness. As she slit the throats of the survivors, she steeled herself to their pitiful cries for mercy. She knew she should feel bad for the men she had murdered, but she did not.

After several hours of cleaning the wreckage throughout Lavri, Kiva spotted Riyel running towards her. His face was covered in dirt, and he panted with exertion. He saw her and rushed to her, pulling her against him tightly. His arms surrounded her and she was crushed against him, her head resting against his shoulder.

"Boar's teeth, Kiva, I've been looking for you for hours. We were separated in the fight, and I couldn't find you—I was certain you were injured or...or dead. You're alright. Thank the heavens, you're alright."

Kiva rested against him for a moment, but the familiar panic returned. He was not holding her carefully or delicately; he was holding her tightly, hungrily, possessively. When Riyel held her, she always told herself that it was alright, that she was safe, but the force and surprise of his embrace startled and she stiffened and grew rigid as panic rushed through her.

Riyel felt her body tense and let go instantly. He frowned, and his apology was written across his face.

"Kiva, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to...to hold you so tightly. Torments, I can't do anything right. I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"

Kiva closed her eyes tightly and balled her fists, telling her fear that everything was alright. He's alright. I can trust him.

"I'm...it'll be alright," she looked at him, and she remembered his words.

I love you. Part of her screamed that she should be afraid of him, of the possessive way he held her, the passionate way he loved her. But she couldn't. She could not be afraid of him, not when she looked into his emerald eyes. She needed to be near to him, and no fear could break that need.

Kiva could hear his smile as he whispered in her ear, "I don't deserve you."

She leaned back and looked up at him, and she whispered, "Riyel...Riyel, I need you."

~~~~~

As the night faded to black, Inver called his council of generals to his tent. The people mourned the loss of over a score of Lavrians, and the fire from the bodies of the defeated Sarians filled the camp with haunting heat and light. The hospital tent overflowed with the wounded and few had escaped unscathed. Kiva had uncovered light abrasions on her arms and legs but had ignored them. Dirt and blood still caked her face and hands and she had barely taken a moment to look after herself. She and Riyel had spent the rest of the day working alongside their neighbors to restore Lavri.

The Council gathered inside Inver's tent, sitting on the floor and chewing on meager rations of biscuits and dried meat. Their numbers had thinned. Justyn was gone, Trysti was in the infirmary, Tal and several others had been seriously injured in the battle, one had been killed, and a few others were with their dying or grieving families.