Gods and Dark Creatures (Book 3)

CH. 14: Ciaran

He was sitting in the library, as always, trying to figure out how he could save Amaya from the hands of the Shadow King. It's been thirty years since he's been trying to find a way, any hope, but he's found nothing. She was unattainable to him.

"How long are you going to try to get her back?" Tristan, his chief advisor, once Prince Tristan of Amorite, asked him a question.

He has grown old in those thirty years. Time was showing on his face. Gray was starting to creep into his hair. But time has not even touched King Ciaran. He was the same as the day Dragomira left him. Only he had more worries, all of which were reflected in his eyes. His heart never forgot.

"Until I kill the Shadow King," he replied.

"It was her choice. She doesn't want you to look for her. I guess she proved that to you the moment she closed the borders." Tristan told him.

"It wasn't her choice," Ciaran shot back. "She did it to save me, as always. I can't leave her there."

"Amaya can't do anything about it. You certainly can't," he said, destroying his castles in the clouds. "She wanted you to stay safe and rule Deira. Don't let her down. Let her sacrifice not be in vain."

"There has to be a way." Ciaran was undeterred.

A member of the royal guard entered the library. He interrupted them. Ciaran forgot the words he wanted to say to Tristan and focused on him.

"Your Majesty, the hunters have caught two dark creatures on the eastern border," he informed him. "They look like people. Do you wish to interrogate them?'

The dark creatures that had the form of humans were the most powerful and the highest ranked in their world. He believed they could help him figure out how to save Amaya. He didn't know their world, and if he couldn't find the answers to his questions in books, maybe they would know them. The hunters who once hunted the dark creatures in Amorite have come to Deira and are now hunting for him. He was looking for them. However, most of them refused to talk to an inferior person like him.

Tristan saw the undying hope in his eyes. Others would have given up long ago after so many years of failure, but he was just the opposite, with every dark creature he caught his determination grew. But hope always led only to destruction.

"Don't do it," he demanded.

Of course, it wouldn't be Ciaran if he just gave up. He wasn't ready to give up.

"I'll hear them out," said Ciaran.

⸸

Ciaran didn't even bother to hide his plans to save Amaya. Everyone knew his heart's desire.

He welcomed those dark creatures in the throne room. He was sitting on his magnificent throne. He was wearing his best clothes. His raven hair was decorated with a golden crown. The crown that Amaya won for him.

They brought the dark creatures before him. Man and woman. The woman had hair as golden as sunshine. She was wearing pants. She reminded him of Amaya. She also had a similar defiance in her eyes. The man was elegantly dressed in all black. His hair was white as snow. A mischievous smile graced his lips. As if he doesn't mind being chained at all.

"You must surely be King Ciaran," he spoke before Ciaran could open his mouth.

"You're forgetting manners," Ciaran told him sharply.

"Of course, of course. I can only speak when called. My manners were never very good though." he laughed.

"You try my patience," King Ciaran said with venom on his tongue.

Dark creatures were like that. Their every word was a mockery, a provocation. They liked to provoke conflicts. They liked being in their midst. At least in most of them, evil won. Amaya was a rare exception.

"I'm sure Queen Amaya wouldn't choose a weakling for a husband," Erebus smirked.

Those words surprised Dragomira. She leaned towards Erebus and whispered to him, "You did not mention that the King of Deira is the husband of Queen Amaya."

"You didn't ask," he replied with a mischievous smile.

Ciaran watched them whisper. "Some kind of problem?" he asked them.

Dragomira's hard gaze softened. She rose to her feet and strode towards King Ciaran. She was about to say something, but before she could even get a single word out of her mouth, the guards immediately restrained her and knocked her back to her knees. The people of Deira were not exactly fond of the dark creatures after they emerged from the shadows. Ciaran had to stop his soldiers from harming her. To him, dark creatures were like people, good and bad. It depends on the person's heart.

"Stop!" Ciaran ordered. "Let her speak."

The guards did not harm her, but despite the order of their king, they still kept her on the ground. They didn't trust her when they knew what she was. A pretty face, but inside was a monster.

"I am Queen Dragomira of Toska." she spoke.

"I have never heard of your kingdom," said King Ciaran.

"I came from behind the Forest of the Dead. I've come a long way to get here."

"The Forest of the Dead?" he looked at her in confusion.

"The forest you call the Black Forest," Erebus remarked.

"I've never heard of anyone getting through the Black Forest," Ciaran wondered.

"I had to if I wanted to get here," Queen Dragomira said. "I'm looking for Queen Amaya of Amorite. She is the only one who can help me."

She caught Ciaran's full attention. He looked searchingly at Queen Dragomira. Tristan noticed how the flame of hope burned brightly in him, like a star in the dark heavens.

"Why do you seek her, Queen Dragomira?" Ciaran asked her a question.

"My king, my beloved to my heart, was kidnapped by the Goddess of Chaos Eris," she explained to him. "I have to find him and save him. I heard that Queen Amaya can talk to the gods. I want to ask her for help."

"Release them from those chains!" Ciaran ordered the hunters.

"But Your Majesty, they slaughtered almost the entire village," the hunters objected. "They are too dangerous."

"I'm sure we're no longer in any danger from them, are we?" Ciaran gave Queen Dragomira a look that told her to say yes, even if it was a lie.

"Yes, Your Majesty," she replied.

"They should be punished according to the law like everyone else," the hunter commander countered.

"Put those chains off them!" said Ciaran forcefully. No one will tell him what to do. He is the king. He gives orders. Let them not think for a moment that they can oppose him. He doesn't have to explain his reasons to anyone.

The hunters reluctantly obeyed his order. They released the dark creatures from the chains that bound their power. They could finally move freely.

"If I may object..."

"You may not, General Adrien." he interrupted his Kings guard Commander. "Queen Dragomira will be our guest from now on and I expect her to be treated befitting her position."

"As you wish, Your Majesty." General Adrien said.

"Thank you, King Ciaran," said Dragomira, bowing to him.

The throne room emptied. The hunters left. The royal guards took Queen Dragomira and her companion to their chambers. Only Tristan remained.

"Did you finally get what you wanted?" he asked his king and friend.

"That remains to be seen," replied Ciaran.