Short stories

Enemy

My arms hang loosely at my sides, the chains rattling with every step. I look to my sides and see guards trailing everywhere. Nowhere to run, nowhere to turn. I look up when I hear a large door open. I look straight ahead and see the throne room. My enemy kneels next to the king, blood pouring from the gash on his cheek with blood covering his clothes. I'm pushed from behind and almost fall but quickly catch my footing. I glare at the person who pushed me and slowly walk into the room.

I'm yanked back and pushed to my knees, in front of the throne. The king looks down at me with a scowl on his face, his sword hanging at his side. I look down at the floor and watch the puddle of blood grow as the wound in my side drips. A cool object is placed under my chin and my face is forcefully lifted up. I make eye contact with the king as his sword pierce's my skin. "We'll, well, we'll. Finally." He sneers, pulling the sword away from my face and walking circles around me.

I take a moment and look to my enemy, Kingston, who looks like he's moments away from collapsing. His body sways side to side and his eyes flutter shut every once in a while. A sharp pain shoots through my face as I fall to my right. I look up and see the king standing over me, his eyes cold and blood on his knuckles. A grip on my hair pulls me up and I gasp at the shape of pain that spreads through my skull. "Don't fucking touch me." I snap, glaring at the person who touches me.

"You caused a lot of trouble." The king states, looking at me. "Good." I grit, looking for an escape. "Don't even think about it." A guard snaps, pulling at my chains. I stumble but quickly catch my footing. "Bitch." I mumble, glaring at him. I'm pushed onto my knees again and my hair is pulled, forcing me to look at the king. "Such a shame to kill such a beautiful thing." The king murmurs, trailing his fingers down my check to my shoulder. "Don't fucking touch her." A deep voice sneers. I look over at Kingston and see him looking at me, a fire burning in his eyes as he watches the king's movements.

He goes to stand up but is pushed down. He swings his head forward and hits the guard in the face. My enemy jumps up, throwing kicks before he's talked to the ground. "Dont fucking touch him!" I yell, running towards them. Someone yanks at my chains and I spin around throwing a kick, not really aiming. I come into contact with something and fall on my back. I groan as o land on my hands and quickly roll over, before slowly pushing myself up. I stand on shaky legs and jump through the chains, bringing my hands in front of me.

A guard runs at me and I quickly side step him and bring my hands up, wrapping the chains around his neck. I pull tightly, choking him as he wiggles around, trying to get away. I twist the chain sharply and quickly snap his neck before letting his body drop to the ground. I turn around and freeze as I see the king holding a knife to Kingston's throat. "Take another step and he dies." The king sneers, digging the blade into his neck. I look at Kingston, my vision blurring as I take his bruised and battered body.

"Don't hurt him. It's me you want, so take me." I say, raising my hands in surrender. The king's deep laugh fills the empty throne room, a few guards standing around, swords at the ready. He pushes Kingston away causing him to fall on the floor. I fight the urge to run to him and look back to the king. "Do what you want to me." I add, taking a step closer. The guards instantly jump to the ready and swords surround me. "Enough." The king yells, putting up a hand to stop all movement. The guards pull away and the king walks towards me.

He stops a few inches from me and roughly grabs my hair and yanks my head back. "I'm gonna kill you. And your little boyfriend is gonna watch." He grunts. And before I know what's happening a dagger is stabbed into my abdomen causing me to gasp loudly. "No!" Kingston yells, jumping up. Everything's a blur as the king pulls out the dagger and I drop to my knees. I fall to the side and look around through blurry eyes, trying to make out who everyone is. "Kiara? Hey, stay with me." A tired voice says as they grab my face between their hands.

I look up and see Kingston looking down at me, his body covered in blood but most looking like it doesn't belong to him. "I'm sorry." I whisper, placing a hand on his face. "Hey. No. You're gonna be ok." His voice breaks as tears well in his eyes. "No, I'm not." I whisper, shaking my head. I take a deep shuddering breath and look down at my body. "I never wanted it to end like this." I start, avoiding eye contact. "I just wanted you to be free. I wanted you to love the life you wanted." I whisper, coughing up blood all over my body.

"Thank you. I know it's long over do but I've never told you how much what you've done means to me. Thank you." Kingston mumbles, kissing my forehead. "Just.... Promise me something." I force out the words as my breathing slows down. Kingston notices this and perks up. "Yea. Yea. Anything." He rushes, grabbing my face in his hands. "Live your life..... Don't hold..... back and do....what makes you....h-happy." I cough up more blood and shudder as the pain starts to leave. 'This is it.' I thought to myself as I looked up at my enemy, my love.

"I promise. Not a day will go by where I'm not thinking of you and I promise I will see you again." Kingston whispers, placing a light, barely there, kiss on my lips. Tears fell down my face and I quickly realized they were not mine. "I'll see you again." I mumble, tears falling down my face. Kingston places one last kiss on my forehead and I let my eyes flutter shut as the rise and fall of my chest finally stops.