The ride to the capital was longer then Lord Kyrus expected it to be. He assumed something had happened since the knights at the border were increased three fold and there were rumors of intruders.

     But when he crossed the border and made it into the Capitals town, all of that was pushed out of his mind.

     He went to the capital often. The Ruby City was what they called it since the Lumynos took over. Its old, original, name, Livon, was long forgotten.

     There was no reason in particular to call it the Ruby City, except for the statue of the first Lumynos in the city square that was erected when the Lumynos began their rule.

     His eyes had rubies in them. But that was all.

     Now, the Palace however, had a good reason for its name.

     The Red Palace, it was called.

     A suitable name indeed.

     Thousands were killed in that palace. The blood of thousands soaked the floors of this palace.

     And after that, the red eyed Lumynos to hold of it, and the Red Palace became their home.

     One could understand why Lord Kyrus never truly felt comfortable in that palace.

     When he arrived, he nodded his head at the man who took his horse for him and then made his way into the Red Palace.

     He was greeted by Seliaryn, who bowed low for the famous knight. "Lord Kyrus."

     "Rise, son." Lord Kyrus said. "Are you well?"

     Seliaryn nodded. "Yes, my Lord. And you?"

     "As well as a man like me can be." He smiled. "Is Meenu here?"

     "I took Meenu back to Amberdyse this morning."

     Lord Kyrus let out a laugh, surprised that the man went to Amberdyse and back so quickly. "Your horse is fast."

     Seliaryn smiled.

     "Is she well?"

     "She was relieved to be home."

     Lord Kyrus nodded. He was happy she was home.

     "Did you come to see Meenu?" Seliaryn asked.

     "No." Lord Kyrus said. "I came to speak to the king. Is he available?"

"He is busy, but I am sure he will make time to see you." Lord Seliaryn said as he started walking. "This way."

As they made their way to the the throne room, Seliaryn informed Lord Kyrus of the terrorist group that had emerged. He kept a great deal of information out, and Lord Kyrus knew it. But Lord Kyrus didn't ask for more. He took what he was told and read the rest between the lines.

     When they arrived at the throne room, the King greeted Lord Kyrus with a smile. "My Lord. Meenu has gone home, what brings you here?"

     Lord Kyrus took a breath as he walked up to the throne. He bowed in respect to the young man before he spoke. "I have a request."

     Dukaryn raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"

     Lord Kyrus watched the King for a moment.

     He noticed the scars on both sides of his face, though he pretended not to.

     It always surprised Lord Kyrus when he noticed how similar Dukaryn looked to his father.

     He just hoped Dukaryn wasn't as selfish as his father was.

     "I want to call of your engagement to my daughter."

     The smile on Dukaryn's face disappeared.

     Even the calm look on Seliaryn, who had joined his Kings side, vanished.

"My daughter isn't ready to get married, she doesn't really want to either. And frankly, I too believe it is best for her to not marry into the royal family."

     Dukaryn stared at the Lord for a second before the smile returned. "I'm sorry to hear that." He said. "But unfortunately its too late now."

Lord Kyrus raised his eyebrows. "What does that mean?"

"I'm the King, Lord Kyrus." Dykaryn said, making Seliaryn look at him. "I have a reputation to take care of. Unlike your daughter, I cannot be getting engaged one day and calling it off another."

Lord Kyrus narrowed his eyes. "She's been engaged once before, my King. And we both know why we had to call that engagement off."

     Dukaryn leaned back in his throne and shrugged. "And you say she isn't ready to get married? Well you seem to be forgetting the fact that if you call of this engagement... She may never get the chance to get married. Who will want to marry used doll of the King."

     "King Dukaryn!" Lord Kyrus hissed.

"I'm sorry, my Lord." He shrugged. "I'm being honest. And we won't be calling off this engagement."

     Lord Kyrus swallowed before he recomposed himself.

     He then bowed, turned and left the throne room, knowing it was pointless to argue with this man.

     Dukaryn kept his smile on his face.

     But he was furious.

     He was extremely furious.

     Lord Kyrus was a little surprised when Seliaryn met him before he got on his horse. "Lord Kyrus!" He called as he ran towards him.

     Lord Kyrus climbed onto his horse and gave Seliaryn a smile. "Thank you for taking care of Meenu." He said to the young man.

     Seliaryn dropped his shoulders and sighed. "My Lord... I will try to help her." He said. "I will try to call off this engagement."

     Lord Kyrus smiled. "Son, thank you. But I know the way of the Lumynos well."

     Seliaryn hesitated, not understanding what he meant.

"A Lumynos can either be extremely righteous or extremely cruel." Lord Kyrus said. "Those who try to be both go mad. They lose their grip on reality."

Seliaryn knotted his eyebrows.

"You are one of the righteous, good Lumynos. Dukaryn is one of the cruel Lumynos. Avaryn tried to be righteous and cruel and he went mad."

Now he understood.

"People can change." Lord Kyrus continued. "But its too late for Dukaryn."

     Lord Seliaryn hesitated as Lord Kyrus turned his horse. "Take care of yourself, son." Lord Kyrus said before he rode off.

     He sped through the capital and only slowed when he crossed the border. When he slowed though, he finally dropped his shoulders and let out a sigh.

     How different things would have been of Kyryn hadn't died like that.

     All of these problems... They would be nonexistent.

     Lord Kyrus looked at the dirt road as he remembered his old, good friend. The thought of whom, brought a great mass of memories storming into the mind of the Lord. He was immediately reminded of when he and his wife could not have a child.

His wife was obviously devastated as she had dreamed of having children since she was young. Knowing this, King Kyryn and his Queen, Lady Tabitha, brought their son to the Kyrus household almost every day to keep Laila company.

Avaryn.

     It worked miracles and Laila grew to love the boy deeply. He made her happy and he too loved her back.

But when Avaryn turned three years old, the gods gave Lord and Lady Kyrus a daughter. And as Lord Kyrus remembered his happiness when Meenu was born, he smiled. They were so happy.

     But their happiness was short lived as they soon had another problem. After Meenu was born it became clear that his wife could not have any more children.

     Which meant that Lord Kyrus would have no son to pass his name down too. The Kyrus elders urged Lord Kyrus to marry another woman but he refused to leave the wife he loved dearly.

     This caused a great strain within the large and noble Kyrus family as the elders tried as hard as they could to get rid of Laila and get Darien, the new head of the family, a new wife.

     During all of this, Lord Kyrus spoke his concerns to the King over a simple, casual dinner, and he laughed at the knight.

     "Adopt a son." The King said to him. "Give him the name Kyrus and raise him into a man. If your elders worry about the new son’s blood, then we get them to settle down.”

     Lord Kyrus remembered how confused he was, and he never imagined what the King would soon propose.

     “My wife is pregnant and will give us a daughter.” The King continued. “I will have no problem marrying her to your new son. Even if he has not the blood of a Kyrus. So long as he has the heart of one."

     Lord Kyrus didn't really understand how much King Kyryn cared about him and his wife until that moment. And he was so grateful.

     In the end, Lord Kyrus was able to find an orphaned Kyrus boy who the lord now considers a son. Soon the Queens daughter was born, but unexpectedly, another crisis emerged.

     The brother of the King, Lord Lyryn, refused to accept the alliance. He wanted his son, who was the same age of Avaryn, to marry the new baby Princess.

     It was, after all, tradition for the Lumynos to marry into their own family.

The honorable Lord Kyrus told his friend that it was alright. The King’s own family was more important than the friendship that he and the King shared.

     But King Kyryn promised his friend that he would never go back on his word.

     And as a token of trust and friendship, he engaged his firstborn son, the heir to the throne, to the precious daughter of the Lord. To Meenu, who for that matter, King Kyryn was very fond of.

     Lord Kyrus accepted this happily.

     Avaryn played with her since she was born and it was clear he loved her dearly. He cared for her and stayed by her side as she grew, surprisingly playing more of a role in her life then Lord and Lady Kyrus had as her parents.

     The more and more he grew, the more and more suitable Lord Kyrus saw him to be for his daughter. Meenu was happy too, and that was all Lord Kyrus wanted as a father.

     To see Meenu and his adopted son happy.

     And to the joy of Lord and Lady Kyrus, the king did keep his word. The Princess was engaged to Andrus, and Avaryn was engaged to Meenu. And they were all pleased to know that they would no longer be just the best of friends... but they would also become family by law.

     However, things changed drastically after Avaryn’s sixteenth birthday.

     Both his mother and his father grew I'll suspiciously. And his mother and sister eventually disappeared. No one knows what happened to her, not even Lord and Lady Kyrus. What they did know though, was that it was a hard and miserable year. And soon, the King passed on and everyone knows that it drove young Avaryn mad.

     He let the hate filled soul, the same soul that his father tamed, run free. And that was how hell broke loose that night in Raffyre.

     But as confused as the entire land, including Lord Kyrus, had become, there was one thing that he knew.

     If Avaryn was anything like his father, and he was very much so like him, then he was a good man.

A good young man who truly loved his daughter.

Lord Kyrus swallowed hard as he wondered how much the child had grown by now. He must look exactly like his father now, except his smile. He had his mother's smile.

And what of the Princess?

     If she was still alive, she was surely beautiful.

     He wondered then if Avaryn knew where the little girl was.

     Probably.

     He probably protects her from the shadows, like he protects Meenu.

     A small smile fell on the face of Lord Kyrus.

     He knew very well that the young man still watched over his daughter.

     It was the only reason he let Meenu run off to the woods like that.

     He knew Avaryn would protect her.

     Because he loved her.

     Truly.

     Lord Kyrus sighed and looked straight ahead.

     "Avaryn." He said, surprising himself. "I know you can hear me."

     There was no response, and Lord Kyrus let out a breath, feeling foolish. But he continued anyways.

"It's become clear to me..." He started. "That I'm doing a bad job at protecting her."

     Silence, except for the sound of his horse’s hooves hitting the dirt road.

     "And I know you've done some bad things, but I also know you are a good man... so please... please...." He took a deep breath. "Please take her away from all of this."

     As the horse rode on, a cool evening breeze blew past Lord Kyrus, and for some reason, that made him think Avaryn was there.

     "I feel that only you can save her from this." Lord Kyrus said. "So take her away. And take care of her for me. Please. I can't stand to see another false smile on her face."

     There was still silence, and this time, no breeze.

     So Lord Kyrus smiled to himself, feeling more like a fool.

     There was no way that young man was listening to his regretful call, Lord Kyrus thought.

     But he was.

     He heard Lord Kyrus' wish clearly.