For Her Sake

She slept still and her breathing was calm.

All night Ryder had remained awake, watching over her and pacing, a lot of things swimming through his unsettled mind; the dreams, the visions, the woman he kept on seeing that troubled him, and now, seeing Lyra in his dreams only added to his confusion. He knew there was something wrong with him that triggered these visions, they had started the year his parents had gone to war against the kingdom of Erstonia and they had been frequent ever since but never had they been this disturbing, and it never weakened him. Just a bad dream.

And the dreams had stopped, up until thirty-eight years ago when it came. And then now, again. 

“Still nothing?” He asked Xanth for the umpteenth time, coming into the room. It was now way past noon and Lyra had not woken up since last night.

Xanth shook his head. He stood, leaning a shoulder on the wall while watching the maids clean her face and arms with moist towels. “Must have been too much for her body to handle.

Ryder casually walked closer. “But she is Khione, it should come to her naturally.

“She is Khione.” He replied and sighed then straightened up. “But she is unaware of the fact that she is Khione. That’s the difference.

Ryder lifted his hand to his face, turning it back and front and studying it. “You said she healed with a blinding light energy?

“Yeah,” He scoffed. “Right after you broke her hand.

He frowned at Xanth and put his hand down, focusing on Lyra. Her sleeping frame was so peaceful and innocent and he felt something stir in his cold heart. “She just needs to remember herself and her erased life, then it would all come back to her.

“Why don’t you find someone that can train her?

“What?

He turned to Ryder with a serious look on his face. “Yes. Find someone that can help train her, to help her use and master her abilities.

Ryder shook his head. “What is the need? It’s just a waste, she has just two years here anyway.

“I still stand by that, it could be useful. After your episodes, usually, you would remain unconscious for days, but she brought you back almost immediately.” He turned back to Lyra but still spoke to Ryder. “I think you may have just found a temporary cure.

Ryder remained quiet, there was a sense in what Xanth just said; to find a trainer for Lyra so she could master her abilities and get him out of his troubled and unconscious state whenever he had such vision next time but was it really that necessary? He almost never had them and they usually had a space of years in between each episode, Lyra would only be here for two. Still, it might not be a total waste.

“Hmm…” He nodded in agreement. “Then I’ll put you in charge of that.

“You have put me in charge of everything concerning her since she got here, I think it’s time you start caring or she might develop a soft spot for me instead.

Ryder turned his head sharply in his direction, a slight frown on his forehead but he understood that Xanth was only looking out for him. He softened up and turned back to Lyra, the maids had already finished cleaning her up. “I have never cared for anyone before.

Xanth reached forward for a bowl of water and a towel then turned and pushed them in front of Ryder. “Now’s the best time to start.

He hesitated and a frown came back to his eyebrows, but just before he could reply Xanth, a soldier came into the room and announced his presence. “Lord Ryder…”

He turned to look at the man and so did Xanth. “Is it done?

“Yes, my Lord. It has been done.

“I will be down shortly.” He hummed and waved the man away then turned to Xanth. “Has to be next time.” He turned to leave the room.

“What is being done?” Xanth asked him.

“Something had happened while we were gone, something deserving of punishment.” He replied curtly and walked out of the room. Curiosity seized Xanth and he followed immediately.

Downstairs, outside the castle building and in the open courtyard, three guards had been bound up, hands and feet, and made to kneel. They shivered in fear, knowing that they might not survive the day and they was no room for an apology, they had trusted in Iris’ protection just yesterday and now, they regretted it.

Ryder walked up to them and stood quietly for a while, his hands clasped together behind him and his eyes to the ground, recalling everything that the maid had told him had happened the day before when he and Xanth had been out. He was enraged, he breathed in and out to steady himself before he spoke. He had already planned out the deserving punishment for them.

“Untie the roped binding their hands.” He ordered and the three other soldiers standing behind the ones kneeling down hurried to untie them, nobody wanted to be in the line of sight of Lord Ryder’s anger. He paced.

“She was brought here for a reason. A reason you all are aware of, isn’t that correct?

The men shivered and nodded, the gags in their mouths preventing them from speaking out.

“And yet, you had the bravery and courage and the stupidity to lay hands on her. Inappropriately!” He trembled in anger, his eyes had turned a misty black and he forced his hands to remain behind him. It vexed him more than he had thought it would, knowing what they had done to her and under the command of Iris. They had tortured her by ripping her clothes off and they had seen her nakedness too. There was no way he would let them remain alive after that. And he would not let them die so easily as well.

“You dared to lay hands on what was mine.” He snapped his fingers and three knives were placed in front of the whimpering men. They looked at the knife in confusion and then back at Ryder who now faced them but still did not look at them. “Cut off your fingers.

Xanth stood still a few paces behind Ryder, just observing. Although he was not told why Ryder would be doing this, he understood a few things and he knew it was all connected, one way or another, to Lyra. They had done something to her in their absence which had caused Ryder to feel this much anger. He could see the dark smoky mist emanating from his palms and he knew Ryder was only trying so hard to keep it in. He took a few paces backward.

The men slowly reached for the knives before them with shaky hands, if they could get away with just their hands being severely damaged but still have their lives not taken away from them, then they would choose that. One by one they began to violently stab their hands, their muffled screams of absolute pain rather than pleasing only riled up the rage in Ryder.

He held out his hands in front of him, all sense of rationality having left him, now he was just a person filled up and overflowing in anger and raw rage. The black smoky mist emanating from his hands grew thicker and spread out more, building up above his palm. He was taking his time, relishing in the look of terror on their faces. Xanth and thy other soldiers knew better than to remain anywhere too close to him, the last time they had seen him like this was years ago and it was on a battleground, so it was somehow suspicious that he would allow this side of him come out because of her.

But she was Khione. They all knew her importance, and if they had forgotten, what better way to remind them than this?

He smirked, the kind of evil smirk that spoke of your horrible death before it came to you. He held for a while, feeding off the fear that shook their hearts, the fear of seeing your demise coming to you and having absolutely no power to do anything about it. They could not escape, they painfully knew that. Ryder turned his hands so that his palm faced downward before he sliced both hands in the air swiftly, crossing them over the other. The smoky mist sipped from his fingertips faster than the eye could see, forming several blade-like objects and sending them flying in the direction of the three men kneeling.

Their deaths were gruesome.

Their bodies, sliced up in several pieces, laid in huge chunks on the ground, blood pooling endlessly. One thing was that their death came to them swiftly and kind of painless too.

Ryder brought both fisted hands to his side and breathed in and out severally until he was able to calm himself down and the misty smoke cleared from his eyes.

“Clean up this mess.” He ordered as he turned back towards the castle entrance. He looked up to the balcony where he knew Iris had been standing all through. He knew she had witnessed what he had done to the men who had helped her in torturing Lyra and she could not mistake the look in his eyes. If not for who she was, she would have shared in their fate.

He lowered his gaze away from her and made his way into the castle, Xanth quietly followed behind him.

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