The Bride He Hates-Chapter 79: The Choice

The hall fell silent. Every instinct screamed at her to finish it, to ensure Ravenna never came after them again. Ravenna had tried to kill her, had tortured Azrael, and had built an entire organization to destroy everything Azrael had built.

The choice was obvious.

But killing a wounded enemy who was begging for death, felt wrong to Lyanna. She looked at Azrael in the crowd. He was standing, gripping the barrier with white-knuckled hands, his eyes fixed on her.

Through the bond that was still active, she felt his internal struggle. He had centuries of justified hatred for the vampire who had created him, used him, abandoned him, and then tried to reclaim him like property. That hatred wanted Ravenna dead. He wanted this to be over.

But under that hatred, there was a desperate hope that Lyanna wouldn’t do what he would have done in her place. He wanted her to stay true to herself instead of becoming what the others expected her to be.

"The decision must be yours." He muttered.

Lyanna looked back down at Ravenna. She was watching her with calculating eyes despite her pain, waiting to see what the turned human would decide.

"No." Lyanna finally said. "I won’t kill you. You’re defeated. That’s enough."

Hundreds of vampires reacted simultaneously. There was shock, debate, outrage, contempt, and respect. Old vampires who had witnessed countless ritual combats had never seen a victor choose mercy. It violated the combat’s tradition.

"The victor must kill the enemy!"

"This is not acceptable."

"Weakness! This proves humans can never truly be vampires."

Everyone started shouting. Lyanna turned to face the Covenant, ignoring the chaos.

"You said vampires must be traditional." She began, and the hall fell silent again. "That human influence weakens us and we must stay away from human values to stay strong." She gestured towards Ravenna.

"But look at what I did. A new vampire defeated your leader, not through strength or power, but through strategy, patience, and mental resilience.

And now I’m choosing mercy. I’m choosing not to kill her when I have the power to do so. You call it weakness, but I call it control. True power isn’t destroying everything you can, it’s choosing not to. Ravenna is defeated. She is alive only because I allow it, and that makes me more powerful than her, not weaker."

She paused for a moment, then continued.

"The human influence you fear so much? It is the ability to be merciful without being weak. The ability to build something instead of just destroying everything. Decide for yourselves which kind of vampire society you want to belong to."

Some vampires nodded in agreement while some looked unsure. A few were openly hostile. But none ignored her. She had everyone’s attention, and more importantly, she had made them think.

Lyanna turned back to Ravenna. She was watching her with shock, respect and confusion.

"Seriously?" Ravenna said. "I would have killed you without hesitation. I will kill you even now if given another chance. And you’re sparing me out of mercy?" She laughed.

Lyanna crouched down to Ravenna’s level and looked into her eyes.

"Azrael has spent centuries hating you." Lyanna replied. "That hatred damaged him. I won’t add to that burden by succeeding where he couldn’t, by making him live with the knowledge that his wife finished what he started.

And because someone has to break the cycle eventually. You hurt him, and he tried to kill you. You rebuilt and came back for revenge. It would have gone on forever, nobody ever stopping because stopping first means losing. So it might as well be me who stops first."

Ravenna had no answer.

Lyanna then stood up and carefully pulled out the silver blade from Ravenna’s chest.

"I’ve made my decision. Ravenna is free, and Thornfield has won the combat. I hope the Covenant will stay true to its word."

Ravenna was immediately taken to the healers.

Azrael ran to Lyanna the moment the guards allowed movement. He pulled her into his arms without a word. She felt him shaking. He looked controlled on the outside, but was falling apart from inside.

"Thank god!" He whispered into her hair.

"I told you." Lyanna replied. "I’m too stubborn."

His arms tightened around her.

"Never do that again."

"Can’t promise that. But I’ll try."

They stood together in the hall while the Covenant elders debated, Azrael refused to let her go, and Lyanna also had no desire to pull away.

When the elders were done with their discussion, they delivered their judgment.

By the rules of ritual challenge, Lyanna had won. Therefore, all charges against Azrael were dismissed. It was decided that Covenant would no longer oppose Azrael’s rule.

Then came the question of Ravenna. Some elders demanded execution, arguing she had destabilized vampire society, and threatened a sovereign ruler. Others called for exile, permanent banishment from vampire territories.

Lord Richard, who had been quiet through most of the proceedings, finally spoke.

"There’s a third option. Ravenna is a vampire with extraordinary knowledge. Executing her would be a waste, and sending her into exile means we won’t be able to watch her.

So The Eclipse Court is ready to accept her under house arrest. She can come to our territory and live under our supervision without causing any further trouble.

It also keeps her where Azrael can find her if he ever decides to finish what he started."

The elders discussed the proposal briefly, then accepted. As the Covenant formalities wrapped up, Ravenna called out from where she sat with healers tending her wounds.

"Thornfield queen."

Lyanna turned. Ravenna still looked proud, despite everything.

"You fought well. Better than I expected, and I prepared for. Perhaps I underestimated what humans can become."

It wasn’t an apology or a promise to change. But coming from Ravenna, it was as close to acknowledgement.

Lyanna nodded. Then she turned back to Azrael, took his hand, and walked out.

They returned to Thornfield victorious. The journey home felt completely different from the journey there. Both the Council of Light and the Covenant had been neutralized. For the first time since their marriage, no immediate crises were demanding their attention.

Lyanna stood in their chambers, looking around at the desk where Azrael read reports every evening, the wall where she had her first panic attack over Adrian’s wedding announcement, and countless other memories attached to the room.

"We did it. We actually survived everything and came out together." She said.

Azrael stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"We did more than survive. Vampire society has changed, not just because we won, but because of how you won."

Lyanna turned in his arms to look at him. He was the vampire king who had once wanted to destroy her, and now he was someone she loved so much that it still surprised her sometimes.

"We should sleep. We both are exhausted."

"We should." Azrael said, but he didn’t move.

Instead, he kissed her slowly, without urgency. It was the kiss of two people who had survived the impossible and now had time to be together.

When they broke apart, Lyanna laughed.

"What?" Azrael asked, smiling despite not knowing why.

"Nothing." She replied. "I’m just happy."

He pulled her towards the bed, and they lay tangled together. Lyanna stared at the ceiling and felt peace, something she hadn’t experienced in months.

"Azrael."

"Hmmm."

"What’s next? Without the crises, the enemies and the constant survival mode, what do we actually do?"

He was quiet for a moment, thinking.

"We take everything we fought for and we actually build it. We make it real." He turned his head to look at her. "And we make our relationship strong without war constantly interrupting us. We have eternity now."

Lyanna smiled.

"Eternity." She repeated. "I think I’m going to like that."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​