Chapter 49

Kiara:

I never understood what my parents feared when they said that the world outside the palace was a dangerous place. I always wanted to go out and explore. I hated being locked in the palace for years. Well, at least until I saw what I have today.

To say that getting mother out of the palace was hard wouldn’t be an understatement. However, I wouldn’t lie when I say that us leaving the palace didn’t seem like the best idea at the moment. People were on the verge of eating one another, literally.

How it happened was something that I couldn’t understand. I knew that the kingdom had its issues when I was here. However, I never expected to see what I was seeing today, nor did I expect to see the terror that I was currently witnessing.

It was like poverty had spread all around the kingdom, and now all they saw and wanted was to kill one another for the smallest loaf of bread. Had Caspian not stopped four of them, they would’ve had their hands on both mothers and me I. Lorenzo was fighting to clear the way for us to get us out of the kingdom and into the forest as fast and as safe as possible. However, even he as a vampire was struggling with the people who wanted to rip his limbs off.

“Lorenzo, this is getting too much. The people are everywhere” I said looking at my husband’s guard who glared at the people who surrounded us. We couldn’t keep killing them, nor could we keep running this way. We wouldn’t be able to reach anywhere even if we tried.

“Don’t worry, Queen Kiara. We’ve reached our checkpoint anyway” Lorenzo said making me frown in confusion as I saw men approach us. His eyes darkened and I found myself taking a step back before he wrapped his arm around my waist and exposed his fangs for the world’s eyes to see “this here, is Queen Kiara, and you will be watching her get what she deserves for letting this kingdom live such a fate’

My heart raced as Lorenzo held me in place and I prayed to God that he was joking or was buying mum and Caspian time to leave. But the fear on Caspian’s face told me otherwise, the men who were watched cheered on Lorenzo making my lips tremble “your beloved husband killed my master, Queen Kiara. I believe that there’s no point in keeping you alive”

Lorenzo’s voice was merely above a whisper, for my ears to hear. My heart pounded against my chest so fast that I could hear it in my ears “why?”

I couldn’t think of any reason that would have Lorenzo want to do this. I had made sure to always treat him fairly. He was the one man I trusted in the palace, I didn’t even trust his brother as much as I trusted him when I was back home. He knew that, and yet, here he was wanting to kill me. What did I do to him that would have him want to end me in that way.

“Well, that would be something that only your husband can answer. But even he is not here to save you, now is he?” Lorenzo asked so coldly that it made my heart drop to my stomach. He licked a stripe on my neck before his fangs brushed my vein “do you know how hard it was to control myself while guarding you through all the years?”

I saw Caspian try to take a step forward but I shook my head at him not to move. I knew that if he did, not only would Lorenzo kill me, but both his and mother’s life would be on the line “yes, listen to your queen. She’s finally managed to use her mind in something other than being a spoiled, frightened princess”

His words made my chest ache as I felt like my heart was on fire. The fact that he was right made this situation a whole lot worse. But there was one thing that Lorenzo forgot to mention, I was no longer that spoiled, frightened princess…

Taking a chance of luck, I punched Lorenzo’s abdomen with my elbow making him loosen his grip around me before I turned around in his arms and cracked his neck, a trick taught to me by Grace, before running toward mother and Caspian whose eyes were wide. Caspian wrapped his arms around me and we had to pull mother away from the forest of men who planned on having our lives.

“Mother, we’ll need to run…”

“You killed the man…” mother said trying to stop me. I shook my head at my mother who was shaking in front of me making my heart clench in my chest as I looked at her.

“Mother, he’s a vampire. He’ll come back to life, we need to run” I said cupping my mother’s cheeks and making her look at me. Forcing myself to remain strong for her case, I knew that it was only a matter of time for the men who were around us to come out of their dazes and come at us. We would be goners if that happened.

“My queen, we need to leave. We’ll have to get out of here before danger occurs” Caspian said putting a hand on mother’s shoulder. She looked at him and nodded, the three of us were forced to escape the men who were following us. Unfortunately, that lead both Caspian and me to kill the men. Mother had to close her eyes to avoid looking at the scenes before her eyes. The scenes were ones that I knew that we’d remember for our whole lives, but now wasn’t the time to do so.

My heart raced in fear at the thought of Lorenzo waking up, the fact that he could follow our scents and catch us at any given second was something that made my heart drop to my stomach as my hands shook. But I also knew that I had no other option than to keep going.

“Kiara, where are we going? We’re running into a dead-end” mother asked distracting me. I knew that she wasn’t used to this much physical activity. The maximum she would’ve done in any workout was dad and her sharing a bed. She was usually one to care for her well-being of being a queen, acting like one, keeping her head high as if she ruled the world. It saddened me that she was in such a state.

“Mother, please, we need to keep going before Lorenzo wakes up. Where we are going? I don’t know, but we need to get as far away from here” I begged mother before my eyes widened as a gust of wind was caught in my throat. My breath stopped as hands wrapped around my neck, choking me.

Lorenzo’s furious eyes met mine and I struggled to fight his strong grip around my neck. However, Lorenzo wouldn’t let go, Caspian wouldn’t be able to reach me if he wanted to. I didn’t know where Lorenzo took me to begin with, but I knew that I was nowhere near being close to where we were running in the forest.

“Did you think that you could run away, Queen Kiara?” Lorenzo said glaring at me. His breath hit my face making me gulp. I felt my heart race as I struggled to breathe, my lungs begging for air against the vampire’s tight grip. But Lorenzo wouldn’t loosen it, not one bit.

“Lorenzo, please” I begged. But nothing, he still tightened his grip around my neck, his eyes glaring daggers at me.

“Do you know why Giovanni died? He died to protect YOU. He died because he wanted us to stop our mission, it killed me. But I couldn’t do anything about it, why? Because my master ordered that I don’t touch you” Lorenzo said raising me off the ground. My back against a tree trunk as I fought to remove his hand from around my neck “but, now that your beloved husband and mate killed my master. I have all the permission to kill you”

His voice was above a whisper and I felt my eyes roll to the back of my head “it’s a shame, that such beauty would go wasted. But you never deserved to live, in all honesty, I didn’t blame your father for hating you. He tried to keep you safe from the hybrid, but you wouldn’t listen. However, don’t worry, with him dead, you’d be meeting him very soon”

A tear fell from my eyes as I thought of my baby, my and Niklaus’s baby who hasn’t even seen the world. Dying inside me as I was getting killed, I thought of Klaus and how he’d feel if he found us in such a state, and I’m saying IF he found us. The people might rip us apart before he does, and that would mean that he would barely find enough to make a grave for us. What would be left of us could be limbs, could be bones, I didn’t know. But I feared the fate I was to face.

“I’m sorry, baby” I whispered to my child “and I’m so sorry, my love”

My lungs tightened for a second before another gust of wind shocked me and it felt like all the air was knocked back into my chest. I coughed as I tried to catch my breath, not understanding what was happening. I breathed in and out, holding my stomach as I feared for my baby. Coughing two more times, I looked up to find Lorenzo’s head being thrown on the ground making me scream in fear.

“Kiara?” My eyes widened as I heard his voice only for a scream to escape my lips as pain filled my abdomen “baby?”

Arms wrapped around me and I felt a liquid being poured in my mouth, being forced to drink it. My husband’s arms wrapped tightly around me as he waited for me to calm down, the bloat in my stomach fading drastically calming my breathing. My eyes widened and I turned around to look at my husband who smiled at me, fear could be read in his eyes. However, I knew that he was keeping himself controlled for my sake. My hands cupped his cheeks and I connected his lips with my own. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

My forehead rested against his as we pulled away to breathe “Klaus?”

“I’m here, baby. It’s done, I’m here for you”

“Klaus, mother, and Caspian…”

“I got to them before you, don’t worry, they’re both safe” Klaus whispered to me. My hands shook in fear as I processed everything that had happened. Klaus gently took my hands in his, helping me calm down. But I knew that he could read through my mind and see what I’ve been through, the fear that I was in at the fact of losing him in that way. The fact that he knew that I didn’t want to leave him, yet having been forced to go.

I couldn’t blame him, in his mind, it was safer for us in the human world. I would’ve never imagined Lorenzo trying to kill me. Having known him for years, it broke me that he was never true to me or my husband. My arms wrapped around my husband as I sobbed, I killed humans, frightened ones who were looking for food to support their homes. They would’ve tried attacking us, I knew that, but I couldn’t blame them after what I saw.

“You’re safe now, baby girl. It’s all done” Klaus whispered again but I shook my head.

“Verone…”

“Dead, baby. He and his dragon are gone…”

“Aiden?”

“He’s fine, love. Don’t worry, you’ll see him soon. Just relax now, baby” Klaus whispered to me tightening his arms around me. My head rested against his shoulder for a second before I closed my eyes, melting in my mate’s and husband’s embrace.

“We’re safe now, my love…”