Crimson Kingdom

Chapter Twelve

Wicked.Wicked.Wicked and gloriously so, her wickedness would not dim as she spent the best years of her life riding into battle beside Ara, that Wicked grin would never cease to draw him in and why would she be good when she could be wicked because in this twisted world maybe just maybe wicked was good because even then, inside of that wicked madness she was good but she was wicked and wonderful and lovely

. Ara the man who tamed the beast as they called him, but they would never know, Ryla was never a beast to be tamed; she was his savior and in their own way he was hers. That grin that made the king go mad was the same grin he will always remember because for the first time someone had seen through her facade and had seen the chains that bound her, they had witnessed the heart beating within. She was not heartless, never to him because he could see with his eyes so feline drawn into slits that her heart was bound. Most of all he could see the crack that tore down the iron encasing the moment it happened. The moment he smiled at her, took the outstretched hand she offered and swore never to leave her.

"My actions were rash, no one would willingly go to death's door to set a slave you just met free, but in my heart I knew I could not let him go. He was a light in my life, he never left me no matter how cold I was no matter the blood that covered my hands" her heart hurts telling this story, the feelings not full but still there she still felt no pity for the wounds she caused the man lying on the cott, her sense of justice logically placed. She did not save this tribe for their safety; she did it to benefit her own means. And she would go to hell if it meant he would walk free.

"Now you know most of my story but something Zakiri did not mention was, the man who adopted me, he was no one other than the king" a dry dark laugh echoes from her lips

"He was young, no wife, and ruthless he had just lost Amaris and my face had reminded him of her, he did not mourn easily and the joke of it all was when I drug myself into that courtyard he did not recognize me, not even the scars he had placed on my wrist from where he kept me chained. Edward was not the same man who loved Amaris and he will never be again, he was the man who had me whipped and that last moment before I sent him to Thea along with Lucian, I beheld the horror in his eyes and nothing could calm the rage I felt. It was funny because indeed I had felt something and it was rage, an emotion that knocked me to my knees. It brought me a sick satisfaction that disgusted me, he will never be the man who loved my mother, my story is not one that can be told in a single day, the sorrow that floods my veins is one that has coiled for years my heart one who has raged in numbness for twelve years is unrecognizable. I can feel the chain, Fate Jerico, he took my memory of that day, the day the tribe cast a nine year old girl into the arms of this world's greatest enemy. Only when I saw the spirit of that kind male brush the shoulder of Rakira were my memories returned to me. I have lost count of how many gifts that Lavi has given me over the years but one day I will repay him for all he has given me"

"Ryla, why would you come back to us" her old and ancient eyes meet his own dark ones

"I wish to call this tribe to war" some part of her feels the guilt but her darker self demands for some payment for her torment.

Some unreadable emotion crosses his face

"Ryla by what name do you call this tribe to war, let us depart to the Tribal Calica so you may roar your declaration to the people" for just one moment she lets her shoulders bow because she knows this may be the last time she may be able to do so. She stands to her feet, a pain she cannot understand fills her heart to the brim.

"As the ones who cast me into the Fates hellish realm and as Asteria Eliza, Thalassa and Elven Queen I call this tribe to war will you follow?" she understood then, the pain that filled her heart it was sadness even after all the pain they caused her she still did not want to present this future to them, but she straightened her back her chin unbowed and she declared war, a roar of defiance against fate itself thundered through her and only then did she realize it sounded roundabout her too. Long ago were the Unknown a warrior race and soon with their stealth speed and fury would they return to their once glorious legend. Deep within that roar she heard the drums that beat and she could tell,

Thump

Thump

Thump

it was an apology, for all that she gave and all they had taken.