Etched in Fate
By Misha
Disclaimer- Not mine. I’m just borrowing them for a little while and will return them when I am finished.
Author’s Notes- T I went with the first words a couple says to each other because it’s what I’m most familiar with, but also because it worked so well with Diavolos and Kenna’s first meeting. This is a soulmate take on the dinner party scene in chapter 5.
Pairing- Diavolos/Kenna
Rating- PG-13
Summary- Kenna never gave her soulmate a lot of thought until he turned out to be the son of her worst enemy.
Words- 831
Spending almost three years fighting for her kingdom, and her life, hadn’t left Kenna a lot of time to think about her soulmate.
Most of the time she forgot all about the words that had been written in her skin since birth. After all, she’d been taught from a young age they were meaningless, anyway.
“You’re a princess, Kenna,” her mother reminded her, “that has to come first.”
She knew that. Had known it since she could walk and because of that the only way the words had ever influenced her decisions, was when they had motivated her to push Dom away and keep it strictly platonic. Because not only was he a commoner, but he wasn’t her soulmate, and that combination meant anything more than friendship as impossible.
Kenna had been a bit disappointed that it wasn’t Raydan, but only fleetingly because their relationship wasn’t the kind that required soul marks or allowed for promises and she was ok with that. Not every relationship was meant to be forever. Sometimes they were just meant to be fun.
Besides, she’d had too much on her mind to worry about a soulmate. She had a war to win and an uneasy alliance to make and that was her priority. She almost forgot that she even had a soul mark.
Until the evening she hosted a peace dinner with the Nevrakis family and Diavolos Nevrakis walked into the hall. Kenna’s first glance at him had caught her off-guard, because he was far more handsome than she’d been expecting, especially after Marco.
Then he spoke and turned her entire world upside down. “You didn’t start without me, did you?”
Kenna stared at him. He… He couldn’t… Her soulmate couldn’t be a Nevrakis! She took a deep breath, willing herself to be calm. “You must be Diavolos,” she said softly, “Welcome to the table…”
Diavolos was obviously skilled at hiding his feelings, probably came from both being a Nevrakis and a trained soldier, but she saw the way his eyes widened and then the appraising look he gave her and she knew that she’d see those words etched on his skin somewhere.
A look passed between them, a silent agreement not to say anything. Instead, they focused on the matter at hand: the fragile alliance.
Yet, all through dinner, Kenna found her gaze lingering on Diavolos. Was Luther’s son really her soulmate? Could fate be that cruel? Yet, if his last name wasn’t Nevrakis, she’d have been thrilled to have this man as a soulmate, she acknowledged to herself. He was handsome and charming and she found herself enjoying his company far more than she should.
So when he announced he was coming with her to Aurelia, she wasn’t actually bothered by the idea. He was right that they were allies, and she’d much rather have him accompany her than Luther or Zenobia. Besides, they needed to talk.
Though that had to wait until the preliminary plans were made and the others went to bed, Jackson giving Diavolos several distrustful looks before departing. Kenna silently led him to her quarters, knowing they needed privacy for this conversation.
A private location was definitely the right call because as soon as they were alone before either of them had spoken a single word, Diavolos began to unbutton his shirt, revealing a muscular chest that had Kenna letting a little sigh as she imagined running her hands or mouth over it.
That wasn’t the only reason she was sighing, though. There, on the right of his chest, a scar running through it, was Kenna’s careful writing and the words “You must be Diavolos, welcome to the table.”
Kenna wanted to reach out and touch the words but held back. Instead, she reached for the straps of her armor, she’d changed out of her dress before leaving Aurelia, slowly discarding it and exposing her chest, and the reason very few people had ever seen her soul mark or even knew that she had one.
Kenna watched Diavolos’s eyes darken as he took in the sight of her bare breasts, of the words imprinted there in a masculine scrawl, in the same place as his.
They stood there for a moment, both partially undressed just staring at each other, the air thick with desire.
Every logical voice in Kenna’s head told her that this changed nothing. She didn’t need a soulmate, certainly not a Nevrakis. This was just a complication and they should ignore it. She knew she should reach for her armor and put an end to this, curiously assuaged.
But she didn’t. Instead, she stepped forward, which was apparently all Diavolos needed because the next thing Kenna knew, his arms were wrapped around her and his mouth was on hers, hot and possessive.
Kenna melted into his kiss, surrendering to it and to him, marveling at how good it felt. How right.
But then, of course, it did, after all this was what destiny felt like.
- End
