The Strong Survive
By Misha
Disclaimer- Not mine. I’m only borrowing them and will return them unharmed when I am finished with them.
Author’s Notes- This started out being about Luther’s opinion of Diavolos and Kenna’s relationship and then turned into something else. I can’t redeem Luther or justify his actions, but it’s still interesting to get into his head because he is such a fascinating villain.
Pairing- minor Kenna/Diavolos
Rating- PG
Summary- Luther reflects on his worldview and his place in it.
Words- 791
King Luther watched as his son and Queen Kenna slipped out of the ballroom, one then the other.
He wondered briefly what excuse they would give if someone asked where they were headed. Something to do with battle plans, he assumed. It was plausible and the casual observer would buy it.
But he was not the casual observer.
He had spent a lifetime watching people, knowing that one wrong move could change everything.
Queen Kenna had certainly shown him that over and over, capitalizing on the smallest opportunities. Partially because he had misjudged, seeing only the princess in a pretty dress and not the formidable woman underneath. He should have realized the girl was a threat when she slapped Marco at their first meeting. But he had been arrogant, refusing to believe that one girl could disrupt all his plans. He would never underestimate her again.
So he watched her carefully and observed his eldest son doing the same but in a very different manner. There was nothing calculating in Diavolos gaze, only admiration and desire. His son was attracted to the girl.
Luther had to admit: they were well matched, if you could get past the family history. They were both fierce in battle and both nauseatingly idealistic. Despite his best efforts, Luther had never been able to make Diavolos realize that part of ruling meant keeping yourself apart from the common soldiers. Anyone could fight, only a few were meant to lead.
It was possible that Kenna and Diavolos were also naïve enough to believe that they could find happiness with each other, that whatever attraction pulled them together was enough to overcome all the spilled blood and bitterness.
But it wasn’t.
In the end, they would both have to remember where they came from. Luther would make sure his son knew what was expected of him when the time came. Make sure Diavolos understood that it didn’t matter how pretty the girl was or what she made him feel, he didn’t get to keep her.
That wasn’t how this story was going to go. If the stubborn girl could pull off a victory tomorrow, and if anyone could it would be her, then Luther knew what his next move would be. What it had to be.
Besides, what other choice did he have? If he didn’t pull off a bold move, it was over for him. She might give him back his freedom, but he knew Kenna would never let him rule again. She couldn’t risk it, because, of course, he wouldn’t be able to resist another attempt at bringing the Five Kingdoms to heel. It was his nature.
What wasn’t in his nature was to retire to a peaceful exile. He was a conqueror, a warlord, a ruler. He would not go peacefully, he could not. If that was even an option. Queen Kenna might promise mercy and she was foolish enough to mean it, but that didn’t mean he would receive it.
Luther knew the Adder of Lykos, had heard the stories of her brother, and was sure they were already plotting what type of accident would befall him when he left Stormholt for whatever country prison Kenna chose for him.
No, he had only one play left: he would have to catch the girl off-guard and kill her. And his son would be at his side when he did it. He demanded loyalty, from his subjects and his family and he would make sure that Diavolos’s didn’t waver.
Luther would let him have this moment, let him indulge in his feelings for the girl, and then he would remind his son of the harsh reality of the world they lived in. Emotion was a weakness and weakness got you killed. The strong always took down those weaker than them until they themselves fell at the hands of someone stronger.
It was the truth that had guided Luther’s whole life and it had brought him to this point, this crossroads.
It galled him that he had had to make this alliance at all, that he was not strong enough to beat Azura. If she was defeated, the enemy who had haunted his entire adult life, it would most likely because of that insolent slip of a girl.
And even if Luther did then take down Kenna Rys… He had a feeling that knowledge would always haunt him. Because even if he was victorious, even if he reached his goal of bringing the Five Kingdoms under his heel, he’d still have failed in some way.
At the same time, he would go through with his plan. If they were victorious, he would either kill Kenna Rys or die at her hand. That was just how the world worked.
- End
