True Colors
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- A while ago violetflipflops wrote a story where Luther didn’t try to kill Kenna immediately after the battle and it got me thinking, what if he delayed it even longer? What if he waited until after Kenna and Diavolos got married and so this story was born.
Pairing- Kenna/Diavolos
Rating- PG-13
Summary- Kenna and Luther establish an uneasy truce after the war is over, but can it last?
Words- 1909
Deciding what do about Luther after the war is over, wasn’t easy. He had caused so many people so much pain and needed to be punished for that, but he had lived up to his part of the alliance.
The Knights of Abanthus fought bravely against Azura, though Kenna thinks that’s more to Diavolos’s credit than his father’s. Still, it was Luther she’d made the deal with, and now she had to decide his fate. She knew she would never restore him to power, but leaving him in a dungeon doesn’t feel right either.
With her left with the task of trying to figure out a place where he would do the least amount of harm.
“There is a castle north of Lykos,” Diavolos told her, “it’s secluded but comfortable, in theory, it would minimize the amount of chaos my father can cause.”
He still looked troubled though, torn between loyalty to his father and something else. That something else being the fact that he made his recommendation while lying in her bed, his arms wrapped tight around her.
“But he won’t like it,” he warned her, “my father is not a man that will take being forced into seclusion lightly. And whatever you decide about Abanthus, he’s going to be furious.”
“Even if I restore the Nevrakis rule?” Kenna asked lightly.
She felt Diavolos stiffen, “Kenna…”
“I trust you,” she assured him, “I think you would be a fantastic king, besides… I was hoping you wouldn’t have to do it alone. I was thinking we could rule together.”
She had to admit she’d never imagined proposing to Luther’s favorite son while he lay naked in her bed, but Diavolos had changed her whole world in a very short period of time and she knew she wanted a lifetime with him.
Diavolos tilted her face so that he was looking directly into her eyes. “I want that,” he assured her, “I want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything, but my father…”
“Your father has taken so much from me,” Kenna said quietly, “I won’t let him take this.” She took a deep breath. “Do you love me?”
“Yes,” he said instantly, “I love you, Kenna Rys.”
“That’s all I need to know,” Kenna told him, placing a hand on his face, “I love you, Diavolos, and I want a life with you. You are my choice. As for your father… We’ll figure something out.”
Diavolos nodded, though there was still some hesitation in his eyes, even as he claimed her mouth in a kiss and the talking stopped for quite a while.
—
Luther took the news surprisingly well. Almost too well.
“He is up to something,” Diavolos warned her the night after his father gave them his blessing.
“I think so too,” Kenna admitted, “but… Maybe he’s just happy that Azura has been defeated? After all, that was his life’s goal, right?”
“Maybe…” Diavolos said doubtfully, but she knew he wasn’t convinced.
Neither was she, but she didn’t want to waste headspace worrying about Luther. She just wanted to be happy.
And she was. Within weeks of the victory, she and Diavolos were married and assumed rule of both Stormholt and Abanthus.
Luther settled into his retirement, though not entirely graciously. He grumbled about being exiled, showing some of the resentment Kenna and Diavolos had expected from their original announcement about Diavolos assuming rule of Abanthus, and it actually reassured them both. His initial calm had obviously been because he assumed that he’d find a way to seize power again, something he couldn’t do if he was banished.
However, his complaints, and veiled threats didn’t deter them and Kenna appointed a staff of trusted guards to keep watch over him while she and Diavolos settled into their new routine. Zenobia was surprisingly agreeable, maybe because Kenna and Diavolos agreed to let her oversee Lykos in their absence, and the two women managed to establish a peace. They weren’t the best of friends, but Zenobia no longer mused about how much she disliked her or how often she thought about killing her, so Kenna considered that a win.
Things continued on this new normal for over a year and then, there was a cause of great celebration: the birth of Princess Adriana Livia.
“We need to invite your father to court,” Kenna pointed out, shortly after Adriana was born, “he should get to meet his granddaughter.”
Diavolos sighed, “you are giving my father more credit than he deserves. He cares about his family as an extension of himself, nothing else, if he has any interest in Adriana, it will because he thinks his legacy is continuing.”
“Diavolos…” Kenna said softly, her heart aching for him and for the lost boy he was. She laced her fingers through him, squeezing his hand gently.
“However, you’re right,” he admitted after a moment, “we should invite him. But I will be double security.”
Kenna wasn’t going to argue with that. She was willing to give Luther some consideration because he was the father of the man she loved, but at the same time he was still the man who had murdered her mother and she would never be truly at ease around him.
—
For the first few days, Luther is on his best behavior and there is genuine pride when he looks at Adriana.
“She is a credit to the Nevrakis name,” he commented, “and hopefully she has some of her mother’s spirit and determination.”
There was a little bit of ruefulness in that last bit, not anger. The relationship between Luther and his children was more strained than usual and the visit was tense, to say the least, but still more pleasant than Kenna expected.
Until the day before Luther was expected to go back to the mountain. Kenna was in the nursery alone with Adriana, having given the nurse a break, when the door opened. Kenna looked up with a smile, assuming it was Diavolos, and then the smile faded when she saw Luther and that he was unaccompanied.
“Where are your guards?” Kenna asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
Luther smiled coldly, “you underestimated me, Rys, and the power I still hold here.” Luther stepped closer, his hand on his sword.
Kenna instinctively shielded the baby.
“I won’t hurt her,” he promised, “she’s a Nevrakis after all and I’m sure Diavolos will tell her all about her mother.”
“He’ll kill you for this,” Kenna said coldly, trying desperately to think of a way out of the situation.
Luther snorted, “with you out of the way, I think my son’s newfound morals will quickly disappear and he will remember where his true loyalty lies.”
“Why?” Kenna asked quietly, both because she was curious and to stall for time.
“Because I don’t like unfinished business,” Luther told her, “and because you turned my own son against me. Besides, with you gone, Diavolos will rule Stormholt in your name and the other kingdoms will quickly fall to the combined armies of Stormholt and Abanthus.”
Kenna stared at him, sure that she must be hearing things. She knew that he was stubborn, that he was committed to his way of life, but she’d hoped… Well, it didn’t matter what she hoped, what mattered was that she had no weapon and a baby in her hands.
Kenna considered screaming for help, but the private ward of the castle was isolated. Besides they were at Lykos, not Stormholt and she couldn’t be sure of anyone’s loyalty. Just then the door to the nursery opened again.
“Kenna, what is taking you so long, you promised to help—” Zenobia’s whine died on her lips when she took in the scene in front of her. “Father.” The word was said with resignation.
“Zenobia, be a good daughter and take your niece and leave,” Luther instructed.
Zenobia stepped towards Kenna and held out her arms for the baby. Kenna stared at her, feeling unexpectedly hurt. Luther’s betrayal was one thing, but she thought she and Zenobia had forged a relationship of sorts.
Zenobia reached for the baby and Kenna reluctantly passed her over, knowing that Adriana’s safety was the most important thing. For the first time though, she felt truly afraid as she realized how alone and helpless she was. Was this really how it would end for her?
As Zenobia took the baby, Kenna felt some cold being slipped into her hand and realized she was now holding a dagger. Her sister-by-marriage smiled at her, before hurrying away with the baby.
“Any last words?” Luther taunted, “I’ll try to make this as painless as possible.”
“I won’t return the favor,” Kenna said coldly, throwing the knife with perfect accuracy and hitting him directly in the neck. She saw the shock on his face as he fell to the ground, blood spurting out of the side of his neck. “Apparently, I’ve turned two of your children against you.”
Luther just shot her a glare of pure hatred and then his eyes closed.
Kenna stepped over his dead body and practically ran out of the nursery.
Zenobia was standing right outside the door. “I take it he’s dead?” She asked coldly.
“Yes,” Kenna confirmed, taking the baby from Zenobia and holding her close. “He’s dead.”
—
Diavolos was livid when he returned to the castle, Luther had been smart enough to create a diversion to get him out of the castle, and learned what had occurred.
“I want the people responsible brought to me,” he snapped at his guard.
Kenna’s instinct was to argue for mercy, but given that she had almost died, she wasn’t feeling particularly merciful.
“Are you sure you’re ok?” Diavolos asked her again once they were alone.
“Thanks to Zenobia,” Kenna said quietly. “She saved my life.”
“And I’ll be forever in her debt,” Diavolos said quietly. “I should have known he’d pull something like this,” he muttered angrily, “I shouldn’t have left.”
Kenna let him rage, knowing he had a lot to process. Though as she watched him pace around the room, it suddenly occurred to her that he hadn’t touched her since learning what had happened. No reassuring hugs or anything.
“Diavolos?” She asked hesitantly.
“Yes, my love?”
“Do you blame me?”
She had been the one to make the decision to pardon Luther in the first place, the one who had chosen to issue the invitation to bring him to Lykos.
Diavolos stared at her, looking completely stunned. “Of course not!” He declared immediately and then sighed, “but I wouldn’t hold it against you if you blamed me.”
“For what?” Kenna asked quietly, stepping towards him. “It was your father that tried to kill me, not you.”
He let out a choked sound and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her neck as he held her tight against him. “I love you,” he told her, “I love you so much and he almost took you from me.”
“But he didn’t,” Kenna reminded him, running her hand along his back. “I’m right here.”
Luther had tried to destroy them, but he had failed. In the end, he had proven that he would always be her enemy, but because of him, she had also found great happiness. The Nevrakis family was so much more than Luther and with him gone, it was time to forget the past and focus on the future. After all, living was the best revenge.
- End
