Shattered Illusions
Echoes Of The Past
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FAKE
Shattered
Illusions
by Lady
Dragonphire
Disclaimer:
Sanami Matoh.
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Chapter
5. Echoes of the Past
Ryo’s
gazed in a dreamlike state at the fabric of the canopy bed draped above
him. He stretched and rubbed the sleep
out of his eyes as his body practically melted into the silk sheets that
surrounded him in their comforting embrace.
He must have been asleep for awhile, he reflected as he sighed softly
and wrapped his arms around the large pillow that cradled his head.
as he became aware that he was alone in a huge bed that was not his own.
questioning gaze. How had he gotten
here?
He vaguely
recalled the events of the previous night, how he had lay down on
sovereign had found him sleeping there and carried him to his bedchamber.
rendering him helpless under the charismatic man’s spell.
to his heart’s desire to be loved. The
walls that he had surrounded his heart with for so long crumbled in the instant
that
of his very soul. Had it all been a
dream? It all seemed too good to be
true. He still did not know
last night. Rose’s warning rang out in
his mind – ‘Each betrayal begins with trust’.
Ryo knew that he could trust no one but himself.
his own life.
Ryo
steeled his gaze in determination and wrapped his arms around himself as he
swung his muscular legs over the side of the bed.
his heart pleaded with him to reconsider.
As the blankets fell away from his lithe body, he looked down and
gasped. The intoxicating events of the
night before had indeed occurred. He was
adorned in the beautiful white silk robe that
on.
wrapped him in the robe. A blush swept
across Ryo’s face at this realization and his cheeks burned hotly.
conquest, as so many others were. Ryo
had always been told that he was beautiful for a man and praised for his
physical appearance. A sad frown spread
across his features. He had hoped that
with
Still lost
in contemplation, Ryo did not notice the tall raven-haired figure who entered
the room and closed the door noiselessly behind him.
fabric draped loosely to the side, leaving one sun-kissed shoulder uncovered.
through the smooth fabric to reveal the elegant curve of his neck and
collarbone and dipped down to outline the firm planes of his broad chest.
minute before walking over to the bed with a tray of fruit and wine and placing
it on the bedside table.
Ryo’s head
shot up with a start at hearing another’s presence in the room.
startle him out of his reverie. He
looked down shyly and blushed further as he noticed his state of undress.
effectively shielding his exposed flesh from
the bed across from Ryo. “Good morning,
Ryo. I trust that you slept well?” the
handsome ruler inquired.
tunic that brought out the deep green of his eyes and tight black leather pants
that outlined the contours of his muscular legs.
“Y-yes
sire,” Ryo replied, still blushing. No
matter how hard he tried to deny it,
would no longer be able to go through with his mission.
where they alighted on the dagger that Rose had given him the first time he had
been sent to assassinate
the dagger thoughtfully, turning it over in his hand as if deciding his next
course of action. He suddenly flipped it
so that the blade lay in his palm and extended the handle towards Ryo.
belongs to you,” he said enigmatically as he positioned himself next to Ryo on
the bed with his tempting offering.
Ryo
hesitantly brought his eyes up to meet
dagger’s handle, his fingertips brushing lightly against
weapon closer to him and clutched it, his hands shaking, belying his
indecision. Ryo wondered why
rendering himself defenseless in the presence of an enemy.
in an offering of trust, or had he simply seen past the veil of uncertainty
that enshrouded Ryo’s heart and had exploited his hesitancy in a cruel
tease? Ryo wondered if
calculating his weaknesses in this decisive moment of vulnerability.
Suddenly,
dagger and placed the blade against his throat.
“Kill me,” he commanded as he increased the pressure against the tender
flesh of his neck, piercing the skin and drawing forth a thin trickle of blood
that flowed slowly down the blade. His
deep green eyes held a formidable aura, as if he dared Ryo to defy his
request. “What are you waiting for?”
it? Don’t fear me.
Ryo’s dark
expressive eyes opened wide and he gasped.
He met
gripped the dagger’s handle tighter. He
was so close to completing his mission.
He could finally avenge the deaths of his parents and end the vendetta
that had been unwillingly bestowed upon him when the last breath of life had
escaped their lips. Yet he still
hesitated as he looked into
do it,” Ryo whispered bitterly in regret as he held the dagger steadily against
released the dagger from his now trembling hands, letting it fall out of his
grasp onto the bed before collapsing against
as though his heart would break.
held Ryo close to him against his chest, running his hand soothingly over Ryo’s
back in an attempt to comfort and reassure him.
When Ryo’s sobs had subsided,
him. Ryo, still recovering from the
exhaustion of last night’s journey, didn’t protest as he sank into the folds of
the silk sheets. “Why can’t you, an assassin
of great skill, bring yourself to kill me?
Surely that is why you returned after you had failed the first
time. It’s just another assassination
for you. What difference does it make
whether I live or die?”
to his bedside table. He knew that Rose
would have no qualms about executing the fair assassin for betrayal if he
returned from his mission in failure once again.
soft-spoken man leave, knowing that he had inevitably sealed his fate by
defying Rose’s whim.
Ryo looked
up sadly from under his dark lashes and met
concern. “When I looked into your eyes,
they were not the eyes of a murderer.
You were supposed to pay for your crimes – I was supposed to avenge
their deaths,” he trailed off in a whisper.
“I couldn’t bring myself to do it,” Ryo admitted in defeat, tears once
again glittering in his expressive eyes and threatening to spill over.
“Whose deaths?”
side to lie closer to Ryo. He took his
thumb and tenderly brushed away the stray tears that had fallen down Ryo’s
cheeks which marred the honey-blond’s beautiful features.
Ryo
lowered his obsidian eyes and said in a soft voice, “My parents.”
assassin into his arms and hold him close, but he knew that Ryo had a story to
tell and he was curious to know what had driven the honorable man to become a
mercenary.
squeezed it sympathetically. “I’m sorry
to hear that. Please tell me how it
happened,”
Ryo looked
up at
presence and genuine sympathy. “My full
name is Ryo MacLean. My parents were
traveling merchants whom some suspected of dabbling in espionage.
mother was a foreigner from the East, so they were able to speak the languages
of both lands and transverse the barriers that divided the two cultures,” Ryo
explained.
‘Ah, so
that was where the man got his exotic looks from,’
before coupled with the man’s fair hair, and he was captivated by their exquisite
beauty. He nodded his head in
encouragement for Ryo to go on.
Ryo smiled
bravely and continued his story. “I
never got to see them much, but when we were together we had the best of
times. I felt a sense of warmth,
belonging, and love with them. They were
determined that I get an education and study as a scribe so that I would not
have to endure the hardships of wars and know the fierce battlefields as only a
warrior does. I stayed at a training
encampment where they taught education as well as defense strategies basic to
survival. They were supposed to come
home to my village to celebrate the Solstice holiday with me, but they were
killed on their journey. I happened to
discover their bodies which had been brutally slaughtered, even though they
were innocent and carried no weapons. I
had never seen carnage to that extent before.
By the time I arrived, I could do nothing to help them except to vow on
their deaths that I would avenge them.
Whoever had killed them would pay with their life.
been anointed with their blood. I have
lived to keep that promise ever since.
When Rose came upon me and offered to train me as an assassin to fulfill
my destiny, I was only too willing to agree to his terms.
ever since that fateful day and have never stopped searching in my quest for
vengeance for the one who took everything that I valued in my life away,” Ryo
finished, looking at Dee sorrowfully.
“I
apologize if I have indeed killed your parents,”
deep eyes. “My soldiers and I have only
killed in the heat of battle, but sometimes innocent civilians have been caught
in the crossfire between rivals and their deaths have been inevitable.
deaths, but I am truly sorry for your loss.”
Ryo
blinked back his tears at
confirming nor denying what Rose had so confidently told him.
unwavering that Ryo simply couldn’t believe that he was a murderer.
Seeing
Ryo’s reaction to the information that
and gently tilted his face up so that his face was only inches from
features. He wished that he could do
anything to somehow take away the pain that had remained with Ryo, haunting him
for so long.
“Let me
tell you my story,”
said softly in an attempt to distract Ryo from his own sorrow.
plunderers when I was just a baby. Everyone
in the village had been massacred except for me.
back alley and taken to an orphanage run by kind missionaries that also housed
children from the surrounding villages.
Although Jess was often away fighting battles, he always managed to stop
by and check up on me every time that he passed through the village.
order to become a noble warrior and soon he had recruited my three closest
friends and me into his army. By the
time we were fifteen, we had become skilled enough to fight alongside the best
of his ranks.”
Ryo smiled
as he listened to
story. He could feel that they had an
underlying deep connection, drawn together by the stories of their past and the
people who had touched their lives, and he was consoled by this intimate
knowledge of the kingdom’s fearless leader that
as he continued. “However, one of my
friends was killed shortly thereafter and when I tried to investigate the cause
of his death, I ran into some unscrupulous characters who wanted to recruit me
to take his place in their underhanded dealings.
go. My options were to either join them
or die. When the man who tried to entice
me to a life of dishonor saw that I had no intentions of joining with the likes
of criminals, Jess sacrificed his own life so that I could live mine.
arms were to keep living my life as honestly as I’ve always lived it.
bestowed upon me through my training and have worked towards the betterment of
my kingdom. When I took Jess’s place as
the commanding leader of his army and finally managed to overthrow the previous
king five years ago when I was twenty, I knew that the hopes and dreams of my
ideal kingdom could at last become a reality.
The head of the missionaries at the orphanage, Mother, told me to
believe in myself and to always be true to the path that I chose.
whom the wicked of the land exploited and do away with the corruption that ran
rampant in the streets. I have strived
to uphold the ideals which those whom I respected have instilled in me.
without a family, and consequently the soldiers in my kingdom fight with honor
to protect their treasured way of life,”
against the pillow, closing his emerald eyes wearily.
Ryo
reached a hand up to entangle his fingers in Dee’s thick ebony mane and brushed
away a stray wisp of hair that covered his eyes, bringing his hands down to
rest against Dee’s smooth face. “Oh
hardships that
struggle to propagate justice and righteousness throughout his kingdom,
crushing all foes who threatened the peace and safety of his land.
his heart that even if
had not been intentional. Upon further
reflection, he realized that Dee or his men couldn’t have done it.
slaughtered to the point where they had been almost unrecognizable.
wanted them dead, there was no doubt in his mind about that.
had been eighteen, and
year younger than Ryo.
“Rose told
me that it was you,” Ryo said incredulously.
“Every assassination, every life that I have taken, Rose said that it
would bring me closer to the day when I would be ready to finally confront
you. But they died before you ever came
to power. I almost took the life of one
who didn’t deserve to die. How could I
have been so blind? Rose lied to
me! Everything he said…it was all a
lie!” Ryo yelled hysterically.
body and held him tightly against him, running his hands soothingly across the
width of Ryo’s back. “Shhh…It’s not your
fault, Ryo. He used you as a conduit in
his scheme and twisted your grief to further his own ambition.
with only the information that he provided you with.
the truth. That coward used you as a
pawn in his viscous attempt to gain power.
I forgive you,”
“Oh,
caressed
fingertips lightly over
“I’m so sorry that I ever doubted you when you told me that I could
trust you. How can I ever make it up to
you?” he trailed off as
that burned with an intense passionate fire.
“By living
your life as your parents wanted you to live it.
in the past. The past inevitably shapes
us into who we are today, no matter how we try to deny it.
is that we can learn from them. Your
future is your own. Please let go of the
chains that bind you to your past and live your life the way that you want to
live it,”
“I-I would
like to,” Ryo ventured hesitantly, pondering
find out who killed my parents. Their
deaths must be avenged. If I were to
give up the life of an assassin and remain in a village, I would not be able to
venture out and pursue any leads pertaining to the killer’s whereabouts in
order to bring him to justice. I would
not want people worrying about my safety.
I know that the job of an assassin invariably entails encountering
death. Should I die, I am ready to
accept my fate. I would not want to
leave any loved ones behind when I cross over to the other side.”
“It’s too
late for that,”
said angrily. Did Ryo really not know
how he felt about him after he had shown him how much he cared for him through
his fiery passionate kisses and uncharacteristically tender seduction?
“What do
you mean?” Ryo asked worriedly, fearing that he had somehow committed an
unforgivable transgression against
“If you
were to die, I don’t know what I would do.
I care for you very much, Ryo.
You say that you believe in an unalterable fate, but I believe that your
life is your own to do with it as you wish.
Relinquish your previous ideas and embrace the power that you have over
your own life. It’s not too late to take
control. You are so much greater than
what you have had to endure. You just
have to reach inside yourself and find the courage to conquer your fears.
different destiny,”
said heatedly.
his, intertwining their fingers. How
could he convince him that things did not have to remain as they were?
Ryo see his reasoning. “If you were to
find your parents’ killer, would you be satisfied after you had shed his
blood? Once you have taken your revenge,
then what? Will you stop or will you
only propagate the cycle of hate? Once
you give up the life of an assassin, will you have anything left?
for. You need someone who cares for
you. I want to protect you,”
voice.
“Don’t try
to distract me! I can take care of
myself. Just because I look the way that
I do, many have sought to conquer me. I
am only a pleasant diversion for them, an amusement that adorns their arms at
banquet halls for the sake of show. Once
my beauty fades, who will love me then?
Please, I can take anything this cruel world throws at me, but I will
not take pity from another,” Ryo said defiantly.
“It’s not
pity, Ryo. My feelings for you run far
deeper than that. You’ve taken care of
yourself for all this time. You’ve
carried this burden for so long, but it’s time to let others into your heart
before you are consumed by your hate and become like those whom you
despise. Do you want to become like
Rose, lusting for power at every opportunity to fill that void in your life,
with only an icy heart for a conscience?
Let me show you how to love and be loved again,”
wisp of Ryo’s hair away from his troubled face.
“I-I
can’t. Please,
I must do this. It’s what I have
lived for for so long. It’s an integral part of my being.
fancy. Don’t try to tell me how to live
my life. I’m still trying to cope with
the fact that the man who took me in and trained me has been using me to
further his own ambition. He lied to me,
Dee. Everything I’ve ever believed was
an illusion,” Ryo said desperately.
“No Ryo,
what we have is real. Don’t try to deny
your feelings for me,”
can have a second chance at living your life doing an honorable trade.
and start anew.”
“I’m
sorry,
hand from
against the bed. All of the fight had
gone out of him. “I’m just so scarred from
my past that I don’t know who to believe or if I can even trust my own feelings
anymore.”
“Trust
what’s in here. Trust your heart,”
the folds of Ryo’s robe and placed it against the smooth flesh of Ryo’s chest
over his heart. Ryo drew in his breath
at the close contact. Seeing Ryo’s
emotions wracking his face in a bout of indecision,
he could give Ryo a sense of self-worth, a new reason for living.
this line, there was no going back.
“What if
your future was here……… with me? You can
help me to make this a better place for people to live in as I rule with you by
my side. You can teach the people of the
village how to read and write and how to defend themselves in battle.
hear your stories from afar. The
soldiers could benefit from your assassin’s abilities and knowledge of stealth,
enemy tactics, and hand-to-hand combat.
Anything you choose to do would help to promote the greater good of the
kingdom. Leave Rose’s false promises
behind. Stay here with me,”
“I-I don’t
know,” Ryo admitted bashfully. It wasn’t
that he didn’t feel an attraction to the raven-haired ruler.
by the intensity of his emotions and he needed time to sort out what
questioned
so long that he could not fathom why
kingdom to look after. What difference
could
grand scheme of things?
“Of
course, you could always become my personal bodyguard,”
seductively, “although I may be preoccupied with watching your body
instead.” With that,
soft lips between his own. He was determined
to show Ryo that he meant what he said about being able to trust him.
that he knew how to – physically. The
handsome king had never failed at enrapturing the object of his desire with a
kiss. However, with Ryo it was
different. He did not simply want Ryo’s
body. He wanted his mind and soul as
well.
Ryo just
wanted to lose himself in
temporarily scattering the painful conflicting emotions running rampant in his
wounded heart. It just felt so right and
he let himself get lost in the moment, closing his eyes and not allowing
himself to think, only to feel. He was
bombarded with sensations of pleasure as he parted his lips to welcome
mouth.
Ryo’s heated cavern and rolled on top of Ryo, snaking his hand between the
folds of Ryo’s robe to run his hands tantalizingly across his chest.
back and breaking the kiss for a moment.
relentlessly plunging his tongue again and again into Ryo and pillaging his
mouth, making the honey-blond dizzy with euphoria as he reflexively clutched
the bedsheets with fervor. Ryo began to
pant lustily against
fiery mouth as
the flesh of his swollen lips, finally breaking the kiss to gaze into Ryo’s
passion-glazed eyes and flushed cheeks when his lungs screamed for air.
As he
watched
came to his senses, back to reality. “I
must return to the campsite now. Rose is
most likely wondering why I have not returned already,” Ryo said, looking up
into
“Don’t
go,”
you wrapped within my arms to remember you by.
I want a chance to get to know more about you.
“I must
return,” Ryo said steadfastly. “It is my
duty. I must continue to uphold my
honor, despite my failure as an assassin.
I will tell Rose of his mistake.
I know that you are not the one who killed my parents.
order for you to be killed,” Ryo reasoned with a smile as he stood up from the
bed on slightly shaky knees.
to his heartfelt pleas? He felt that
Rose would do away with the kind-hearted assassin anyway, regardless of the
fact of whether he had succeeded or failed at his task.
known to an enemy, especially when so much was riding on the man’s well-laid
plans. “Men like Rose will never
change,”
“I have to
try. It’s what I believe in.
ardently. “Thanks to you, I’ve found the
courage to follow it.”
“You don’t
have to do this,”
pleaded, frantic. He was willing to do
anything in order to get Ryo to change his mind as he stood up and walked over
to Ryo. “It doesn’t have to end this
way. I don’t want to lose you, not like
this.” He grabbed Ryo’s hand and spun
him around, crushing his bruised lips against Ryo’s in a desperate heated kiss
that spoke of passion, longing, desire, and sadness.
To his
horror, he felt Ryo vehemently pushing him away and felt the tears that were
trickling down the sides of Ryo’s beautiful face splash against his cheek.
harder on me then it has to be. I have
made my decision. If it is fate’s will
that we are parted then so be it,” Ryo said softly as he looked into
time.
“I’ll
never let you go,” Dee vowed as he pulled Ryo close against his body and
clutched him tightly, wrapping his arms around Ryo in a possessive hug as he
nuzzled his face against Ryo’s neck.
that he found comfort in, blinking back tears.
He had finally found the other half of his soul.
when they had so much more to discover about one another.
“Then you
leave me no choice,” Ryo intoned flatly as he brought his hand up from where it
rested against Dee’s back and placed a well-executed blow between Dee’s neck
and shoulder.
Ryo rendered him unconscious. Ryo caught
the bed, laying him against the pillows and retrieving his assassin’s outfit
from a nearby chair. Ryo changed out of
his robe and placed it reverently next to
pulling it up over his sleek frame. He
surveyed the form of the gorgeous raven-haired man with a fleeting smile before
walking over to Dee’s bedside and softly brushing against Dee’s inviting lips
with his own, bestowing upon him one last gentle kiss.
as he turned to go, gathering his bag and grappling hook and silently departing
from the comfort of
castle to face his fears and confront his destiny.
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