Chapter 34

Niklaus:

“I will expect no excuses Lorenzo, Kiara is already a nervous wreck right now. She needs to be guarded at all times. Otherwise, we’ll find her trying to go to her mother” I said looking at Lorenzo who nodded at me. He knew Kiara more than I did. She would put herself in danger to protect her mother. Even in her worst states, even when her father put her life in danger, the two threatened her, locked her, hurt her, Kiara did nothing but protect her mother through everything making sure that the woman was never harmed by the man she called her father. It saddened me that I couldn’t help her sooner, I knew that I should have gotten her out of the man’s palace. But I also knew that she would have never come with me if she did.

“But sir, if the princess decides to leave, what would I be doing to stop her? You know that she has grown a lot stronger, she will challenge King Leonardo” Lorenzo said stating a fact that I knew well. Kiara had been taught to fight by me, Ian, and Grace. She was a lot stronger than she ever was now, especially after the mating, she would be feeling MY strength which would add to hers. That would change her personality for the better. She would be stronger in battle and fights; she was trained well and I loved that she was.

“You will not stop her. You will come to me, and I will know how to deal with the matter. Whatever she’ll be doing against Leonardo won’t be to simply save her mother. She would be taking revenge on him after everything he’s put her through, and if I were being honest. I wasn’t sure that I would be able to stop her.

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“Love?” I said softly. Entering the chamber to find Kiara sitting on the couch. Aiden flew around the room trying to attract her attention, the little creature already knew that Kiara was upset. He could feel her broken heart. Being a dragon, he could feel her pain, reason, some even say that dragons can read one’s thoughts if they’re bonded to them by love, and I knew with all my heart that the little dragon loved Kiara as deeply as she loved him.

Kiara’s head snapped in my direction and she gave me the best smile she could muster but I wasn’t stupid, I could read through her facial expression, and even if I couldn’t. The mating bond made me feel everything that she was feeling, and that included the pain that she was feeling at the moment.

I sat beside her and wrapped my arms around my quiet beauty whose mind was racing a thousand miles per minute. Her heartbeat was calm, her face as emotionless as when she was back in her castle. I had seen her in that state for years as I watched her from far. Her parents would be breaking her with words that would break the hardest stones. But the princess never reacted, she had trained herself to remain as calm as the ice queen, she wouldn’t show any emotion, she wouldn’t talk back. Her eyes would be fixed on something until they were done, then she would bow and leave as quietly as she could.

“Love, you don’t need to hide this from me. I can feel everything you’re feeling” I whispered to her, reminding her that she was safe with me. It was a habit she had, to block herself inside her mind. To have her battles on her own, it sometimes took a while for me to get her back to me, to tell her that she wasn’t alone, that I was there for her.

“I know you can feel me, Klaus, I know you’re trying to keep me safe now. But I can’t help but worry about mother, I don’t want to imagine the pain she’s going through right now Klaus. And knowing father, he would not leave her be” Kiara said and I nodded keeping my arm wrapped around her. I could do or say nothing to comfort her about her worry, she was scared and I knew why, I had witnessed more damage done by that man than I’ve seen in any other man. And his damage was done to his family before it was done on his people. He was a ruthless man, and he could care about nothing but his benefits and pleasures “I’m scared Niklaus, I’ve never felt so helpless…”

“You’re not helpless my sweet beauty, you are my princess, the strongest of all princesses. My love, mate, and another half, if that doesn’t count for anything in your eyes, then it should baby girl. You are to be ruling over all these people, you will be merciful, you will have times where you are forced to be as tough as a rock, and that is what I’ve always loved about you. I’ve watched you grow. I’ve seen your smiles and tears, I know your beautiful heart more than anyone does…” my words were those of honesty to her, I knew my beauty a lot more than she probably knew herself. I knew when she was upset when she was happy when she was nervous, or calm, and it wasn’t just about feeling her. No, I could see her emotions right through her eyes “you are my queen, and soon you’ll be the queen in this kingdom, we will fight endless battles together. Some would be bloody, others won’t, but I know that you’ll be able to fight them all, each one of them as the queen you’re meant to be”

“What if I fail Niklaus? I wasn’t able to protect myself when I was put in situations where I had to, I couldn’t even protect mother when I should have taken her with me…”

“The woman tricked you, Kiara, she almost sent you a bride to a man who you didn’t love to separate you from your mate. I couldn't allow you to protect her even if I knew that you could” I said stopping Kiara. She stopped talking for a second, frowning in confusion as she processed my words, but I nodded at her. The girl came to me as broken and weak, and her pain source was both her parents, if she managed to get out of it, I would have rather died than send her to such people who would harm her.

“She’s still my mother Klaus,” Kiara said softly, I smiled at her, her beautiful, genuine, kind heart was something that I adored about her. Despite everything they’ve done to her, my beauty has forgiven her, she forgot the pain she’s been through to save the woman, and as much as I admired her kind heart, I worried about her. A kind heart was a beautiful feature in a person, but it had many consequences, and I didn’t want my beauty to face them.

“And that is the only reason why I’m going to fight to help her Kiara,” I said turning to look my sweet beauty in the eye, she frowned in confusion before I smiled at her, running my fingers through her hair and pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear “if it were up to me, I wouldn’t have cared about her, but she is your mother, and I know that you wouldn’t be able to rest until you’ve seen her by your side. That is the ONLY reason why I’m going to do everything in my power to bring her to you”

Kiara stayed quiet for a few seconds before laying her head on my chest, my arm wrapped around her waist and I kissed her temple holding her closer to me by her shoulder, she fisted my shirt and I knew that she had shed a few tears “I love you, baby girl, I swear you have no idea how much I do”

Kiara pulled away from the hug to look me in the eye before she leaned into my lips, kissing me softly. I smiled into the kiss resting my forehead against hers, I could feel her being at rest, her being in peace despite everything she was thinking of, despite the mental battle that she was having. She knew that I was by her side through everything and that there was no way I was going to leave her. I would rather die than think of such a possibility, and Kiara knew that by now, and for that I was thankful.

“I love you too Niklaus, I love you so much that I sometimes fear thinking about losing you,” Kiara said looking me in the eye. I smiled and ran my finger over her jawline and she leaned into my touch “I always feared losing you. I feared them sending me to Caspian, I was scared Niklaus, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to be in your arms until the end of time. I’m even scared that this could be a game from them. They had framed me with a crime that I could have never thought of committing, especially knowing how much mother wanted what she was getting, but I also fear her being in real danger. If something happens to her then I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that I could have helped her”

“We will investigate this love, you should know that I couldn't send you somewhere without knowing if it was fake or a reality. I can’t risk anything happening to you Kiara, not even for a second” I said honestly keeping my eyes on my mate who smiled intertwining our fingers. She smiled and laid her head on my shoulder and I kissed her temple.

“Thank you for everything you’re doing for me Niklaus,” Kiara said in my arms “you could be fighting different battles, running your land as you please. You have an enemy on the loose, and yet you’re here worrying about me and my family’s problems”

“You are my family, love. If you think that you opened up to me are bothering me, then you are very wrong my sweet princess” I said softly “I want you to open up to me. To tell me how you feel, to share your wishes, dreams, even pain with me. I want to be the first to know of everything you’re feeling, no matter how big or small you may think it is, you trusting me and opening up to me the way you are mean the world to me”

I spoke my words of truth. The princess didn’t even know how much it meant to me that I knew of her trust toward me. A girl like her, an angel-like she was, opened up to me when she opened up to no one before, she didn’t even realize what she did to me by doing so. And I didn’t expect her to, if she was one to hide her feelings, then I was too. But not from her, I opened up to her in every possible way, she was the one person to see my weakness, no one ever witnessed what was inside my mind but her, and I was proud knowing that she trusted me to open up to me as I did to her.

“I am here for you until the end of time my beauty, as you will be by my side”

“That is a very long time” Kiara teased and I laughed seeing that she finally calmed down a bit. Aiden jumped on the couch’s backrest standing behind me and laying his head on my shoulder, I smiled at the little dragon and pet his head softly as he nuzzled his nose in the crook of my neck.

“And I would love spending every second of it with you,” I said smiling “both of you”