Eros

Death's Embrace - 58

Kaido bent forward as the knife pierced in his gut, a cry rumbling in his throat, and his hand falling over hers. Siera met his gaze, and the disbelief in his eyes stabbed at her heart like a spike.

"How dare you look at me like that?" She screamed at a pitch that scratched her throat. She tried to yank the blade out, but he clutched on her wrist.

"Why Siera?" Kaido muttered, rage twisting into his painful expression.

"Why?" She repeated, unable to restrain her laughter. "Because you destroyed me!"

Siera lurched closer, and screamed in his face. "Because you saved me from it all! I prepared myself for it again, I didn't believe you. But you were there, always, with your love and your promises. And I fell for it, and when they came, and you weren't there, I only prayed for you!"

The tears ran down her cheeks, and tasted salty on her lips.

"They did things to me that made me miss the Headmaster in the orphanage." Her screams hushed into a raw whisper. "Whenever I closed my eyes, and I saw you, storming in, with your love and your wrath, saving me. I tried not to, I tried only to wish that you were alright, over all this, living a happily..."

Her head dropped again, and she shook it, weak, pitiful laughter echoing past her lips. "But I couldn't, I couldn't kill the hope. You made me hurt more than a thousand rapists and slavers could."

In a spike of rage, she tried to wrench the knife in his stomach again, but his grip was like iron. Kaido shoved his hand in his pocket, then showed Siera the jewel in his palm. It was a Veramorian marriage necklace. A beautiful one, with a delicate silver chain, and a pedant molded in the shape of a flower and outlined with gold.

Slowly, he released her wrist, took the necklace in both hands, and put it around her neck.

"I was out to buy it for you, when they came." Kaido said, and cupped her face in his palms, fingers brushing in her hair. Suddenly, she was the girl she had been years ago. Soothed by the gentle touch of his calloused hands. Warmed on the inside by the profound love in his eyes. An uncontrollable sob rattled her breast.

She was that girl no longer. She was broken. Defiled beyond recognition. Reborn out of hatred and misery. She did not deserve his love. And she could not bear it.

Siera tore the knife out of his stomach, turned it around, and thrust it. The breath left her breast as the steel punched in. Her knees buckled and she fell.

"No!" Kaido dropped onto a knee, and caught her before she hit the ground. Pain clenched her body in his arms. "No... Siera..."

He tangled his hand in her hair, and held up her head. He stared at her wide eyed, and she saw his pupils dance with terror. "Siera..."

"It's okay." She took his cheek in her palm, and her lips eased into a smile. A smile without acrimony or gloat. A smile she had forgotten she had in her. "Better me than you."

He shook his head, and pulled her closer in his embrace. "I love you, Siera."

"I stabbed you, and you love me." She said. Laughter escaped him, though his amusement drowned in sorrow.

"You think we could've lived a different life, if the world hadn't got in the way?"

"Yes." He gazed in her eyes, as confident as he ever was. "We would have married in white. Raised two boys, and a girl, beautiful like you. Lived in a house on a hill, as far as we could from that fucking desert of Veramor."

Siera laughed now, and her eyes glistened with tears. She brought her hand to his nape, and tugged his face to the crook of her neck.

"I am glad." She told him, and as the cold took her body, she felt his tears warm against her skin. He held her so tight, and she forgot all about her anger, and her misery, and her hatred. Love was all that remained.