[Savior – Part 3]

Kiera continued to keep her eyes closed just in case the sole survivor from the fight –she could hear exactly one pair of footstep walking calmly closer to her and the car –was not her savior. She might be weapon less and sporting a bullet wound, but Kiera was still prepared to do whatever she could to ensure the young master's safety.

"Kiera, are you conscious?" The calm words spoken were the same as the ones given in an order to her shortly before, and though she did not let her guard down completely, she opened her eyes and used the support of the side of the car to drag her upper body up to a leaning/sitting position.

"I am not letting you get in the car until you tell me who you are and prove the origin of your loyalty." Kiera wished she could have sounded threatening, but the matter of the fact was that she had actually been whispering her words from the pain, and that she was completely vulnerable without a weapon.

"I admire you for your bravery, Kiera, but I was sent here by Keyron." The man answered, and now that he had knelt down before her a safe distance away, she realized that he was exactly as suspicious as their attackers had been. The man was wearing a facemask that covered his nose and mouth, and sunglasses over his eyes. A baseball cap covered his hair, and though his black clothes showed off a body that was closer to being lean than muscular, Kiera knew better than to underestimate a man who could have dragged someone out of the car minutes ago with just one arm.

"Prove it." She answered, unfazed as she spread her arms out to show her determination to block the car doors. "Prove that you work for the Greaves-Crawford Household."

"I don't work for the Greaves-Crawford Household." The man's answer was short and simple, but before Kiera could reply with anything else, a –surprisingly –gloved hand reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out something, holding it up to her sight. "Keyron lent me this to help convince people that I'm on his side."

It was a piece of very good evidence: the official coat of arms of the Crawford Household. It was an expired crest –Miss Louise had stopped using the old crest of her maiden family right after she married her husband –but Kiera had seen this crest often back when she had been dating Keyron, and her husband had been sporting the coat of arms of both Greaves and Crawford Household individually before the two families combined into one.

"Okay, I can't protest against that crest." Kiera nodded because her husband had told her a long time ago that there were only two such coat of arms left sporting the Crawford crest –one belonged to Keyron himself for keepsake purposes, and the other had been left in the safe that held all of the belongings of his late twin brother, Kyrano.

Kiera had never met Kyrano in person before –the man had passed on before she met Keyron. But she knew from stories that Kyrano had been dearly loved and cherished by Keyron, Brandon, and most importantly, Miss Louise. It was impossible for Kyrano's coat of arms to have been stolen given how tightly it was guarded, and thus if someone –even suspicious with all his facial features covered –could show Keyron's old Crawford coat of arms, Kiera knew she could trust the man.

"Is the Young Master okay?" The man pocketed the coat of arms quickly, inching closer now that he had been given the go-ahead.

"Nobody has come close to the car since." Kiera answered, letting her arms fall back to the side.

"How are you with the pain?" The very calm and polite way that the questions were spoken reminded Kiera of her husband, and even though the man was clearly not Keyron, she could not help but feel just a little bit safer.

"I will survive. Giving birth to twins was worse." Kiera looked down to make sure that the blood was not spilling at a too-alarming rate. "I was lucky he didn't try shooting further up."

"His target was the young master, not you." The man answered. "Rest for now, I will settle things."

Settling things was a job that Kiera knew her husband to do very well as a butler, and though she knew that the man who she did not even know the name of was not Keyron, she nodded and let her body slide back down to the floor so as to allow the man to open the door from her side.

"Everything is fine now, Young Master Kyren." The man's voice was definitely much gentler than before as he spoke, and Kiera was glad that the young master was not naïve enough to believe the man immediately. There was always a level of suspicion that was required of the young heir of the Greaves-Crawford Household, and Miss Louise had certainly taught her son well.

"Who are you? Where is Aunt Kiera? Stay away from Kyren!"

"Young Master, I'm here." Kiera raised a hand so that at least the young one could be assured that she was nearby. "This man is our ally. Keyron sent him here to help us."

"Keyron didn't come himself?" Kyren sounded disappointed that his hero had not appeared like he had expected, and Kiera made a mental note for her husband to seriously stop deluding the young boys –their sons included –into believing that Keyron could do anything like a hero.

"Keyron is busy finding out who is responsible for today, Young Master. He trusted me to save you and Kiera." The man answered kindly, extending a polite gloved hand further into the car in invitation for the young one to take it. "Please come out of the car yourself, Young Master. I assure you that it is safe for you now."

"Kyren, you can trust him. He will protect you." Kiera added with the hopes of making things easier for the man.

Thankfully, the young one was trustful enough of Kiera's words to accept the stranger's hand, and slowly, but gently, the man carried Kyren out of the car, setting him safely on the floor. Kiera had been worried that the Young Master might be traumatized at the sight of bodies dead or bleeding on the floor, but that worry was lost when Kyren's eyes were only for Kiera herself, the tears quickly bursting from his eyes as he ran to her lying on the floor, throwing his tiny arms around her –unfortunately –waist.

"Aunt Kiera, you are bleeding!" The young one said as he squeezed tight, and Kiera gasped at the sudden application of force over her wound.

"I-I... I'm fine, Young Master..." She gasped, unwilling to tell the young one that his gesture of affection was forcing more pain on her.

"You should not pamper him too much, Kiera." The calm voice spoke once more, and firm hands took Kyren's arms from her around. "Young Master, you are hurting Kiera."

"I'm fine..." Kiera repeated, but thankful that the man had made his move nonetheless. "I have to humble myself to request that you help send the Young Master back to the mansion safely. I would do it myself, but I cannot drive and even if I could, it would not be safe for me in such a state."

"No! Kyren not going home without Aunt Kiera!" The young one shouted quickly, crossing his arms and staring hard at the man. "Take Aunt Kiera home too!"

"You heard the Young Master." The man answered. "I will bring the Young Master back safely, but you are coming as well. As soon as we have the bullet removed from your stomach and your wound stitched up."

"I can do it myself." Kiera tried to protest. "Don't let the Young Master stay out here in the open for longer than necessary."

"No!" Kyren protested again. "Kyren will stay inside the car. Aunt Kiera get well, then we will go home together."

Like the young master that he was, both adults watched as the boy awkwardly climbed over Kiera to scramble back into the car and sit back down right where he had been lifted out of just minutes ago.

"Help Aunt Kiera get well, then we go home." Kyren gave a hard stare to the masked man.

"He seems to have learnt a lot from his mother." For the first time, there was something more than just calm politeness in the man's voice as he spoke. Though Kiera could not see his features at all through his mask and sunglasses, she had no doubt that there was a small smile or at least a smirk somewhere behind the disguise as he spoke. "Miss Louise has the same hard stare, and if what I remember serves me well, we cannot expect Miss Louise to bend whenever she issues that hard stare. I shall assume the same applies for her son, and thus, please excuse me, Kiera."

Kiera did not have to time to ponder over the man's words about the Mistress of the Greaves-Crawford Household before she was taken by surprise when arms slid underneath her and scooped her up from the ground without warning. The movement sent some pain firing from the wound, but she fought to remain conscious as the man's surprisingly-gentle and stable arms brought her only a short distance away, resting her back down safely on the ground and leaning now against the front bumper of the car.

"I assume you want to remain close to the Young Master, but not let him see the procedure." The man explained the positioning that he had chosen for her, going down slowly to his knees. Again, his hands slipped into the pocket of his jacket and this time brought out a small sewing kit, a lighter and a switchblade.

"Please excuse me for the rude things that I'm going to have to do." The man spoke like a true butler, and though Kiera was no mistress of any household, she enjoyed the treatment as she nodded, watching as the switchblade began to very gently, but precisely cut through the cloth of her bloodied blouse just enough to reveal the wound. "It will hurt a little, Kiera, but I will make it quick."

"I have been through child birth before." She answered with a grim smile. "This cannot be worse than Kylar and Kyvan."

"If you wish to, you may hold on to me when it hurts."

"I got through giving birth with Keyron fainted on the floor beside me." Kiera could not help her chuckle at the memory. "I can do this without help."

"Keyron has found himself a very strong woman suitable for him." There was approval in that voice, and though Kiera could not understand the relationship of this stranger and her husband, a part of her was proud at the declaration made. The other part of her simply struggled not to pass out when the sterilized switchblade began to break skin.

Kiera might have bragged about child birth, but the pain throughout the whole procedure of bullet removal and stitching came a close second. Still, she refused to scream for fear of traumatizing the Young Master who had adamantly remained in the car, sticking to his promise. Through it all, Kiera was very glad that the man seemed to know exactly what he was doing through every step of the procedure, and everything was done quickly and smoothly. At the end of it all, Kiera was exhausted but feeling much better by the time the man shrugged his jacket off and wrapped it around her exposed waist as a form of makeshift bandage.

"Are you well enough to stand?" He asked, and Kiera put in her best effort to try, finding that she thankfully still had enough strength in her legs to remain upright.

"One of the cars belonging to your guards is still unscathed from the fight. We will take that since this one is in no shape to move." He informed, offering his steady support as she took small steps one by one around the car.

Kyren was clearly ecstatic to find Kiera strong enough to be on her feet again –even with their savior's support –and the Young Master scrambled out of the car quickly once again to meet them. The smart boy was careful not to put his arms around Kiera this time, but instead grabbed onto her free hand like it was a lifebuoy instead.

Together, the three of them made slow but steady pace through the mess of bodies, blood and gore all around them. Kiera was sure that the poor child would go through some trauma after today and prayed that Kyren would be strong emotionally to learn to get past today's nightmare. Still, the five-year-old did not seem to be showing signs of terror yet as he kept his eye strictly forwards, holding on tightly to Kiera's hand.

The car they were led to was the one last in the line of escort cars that had come along with them on the journey back to the mansion. It had been deserted and completely untouched when the fighting had begun, and Kiera found herself carefully lowered into the backseat by the steady savior. Kyren was quick to scramble into the car himself, sitting himself worriedly beside Kiera wordlessly while their savior silently climbed into the driver's seat, hotwiring the car without hesitation.

The car began to ease into slow movement, and Kiera closed her eyes to rest.

________________________________________________________________________________

Kiera woke up from fevered sleep to the realization that she had dozed off on the very comfortable ride on the road. Groggy and still feeling weak, Kiera blinked a few times to realize that they had come to a stop a short distance away from the Greaves-Crawford Mansion. The gate was already in sight, but the car was currently parked a little way down the road, hiding amongst the trees and shrubs.

A quick check revealed that the young boy was still safely by her side, lying his head on her lap and sleeping with his brows furrowed. Sweat dotted his forehead, and Kiera was not particularly surprised to find that he was burning up a good fever as well.

"Once you feel stable enough, please bring Kyren back to the Mansion as soon as possible. His temperature started rising ten minutes ago, and children his age are particularly vulnerable to complications when they get a high fever." Their driver and savior must have been alerted by her movements since waking up, and Kiera met eyes with the man through the rear-view mirror. She realized with a startle that her savior had at least removed his sunglasses some time during the ride, and she could now see a pair of steady black eyes staring at her through the mirror. She also realized very quickly that one eye was glassy black.

"You are not driving us to the mansion proper?" She asked quietly. Kiera knew that her fever was making her weak, and she was not completely sure if she could carry the young master all the way to the gate herself. Past the gates, it was another very long way before they would reach the mansion building, and that was a journey she was very sure she could not make with a fevered young master and a very weak body.

"I have other instructions." The man answered. "Keyron has men and a car waiting for you at the gate. You only have to walk with the Young Master far enough to be sighted."

Kiera knew that she had already taken too much favor from her savior to ask for more. She arranged her sick young master within her arms until he was leaning against her chest, her arms bearing his weight while she did her best to avoid the bullet wound in her abdomen. The door at her side opened, and she looked up to find her savior awaiting outside expectantly, apology glinting in black eyes. He still wore the mask to hide the lower half of his face, but his eyes spoke a genuine regret that he could not help her further. Kiera could see the truth easily in those eyes; it was not that he did not want to help her complete her journey to the mansion, but that he simply could not because of reasons he could not tell her.

"Thank you for your help. Can I have a name or an address that I can express my gratitude to?" Kiera tried her hand at asking after she climbed out of the car with the boy still sleeping in her arms.

"There is no need to express your gratitude to me. I was only executing my duty." He answered humbly –and exactly the way she expected out a butler.

And though throughout the whole experience Kiera had been confused, cautious, weak and fevered, her brain was still working fine as the hints and clues all settled into place. Kiera nodded to show that she understood. Raising the boy in her arms a little higher, she met eyes expectantly with him. "Your jacket. You might want to take it back."

The reminder was well taken, and the man hurriedly unwrapped the jacket from around her waist, expressing a quick apology to excuse him for putting his arms around a married woman.

They stood, facing each other with a sleeping young boy in her arms. Polite confusion wrote in his eyes as to why she had yet to move to the Mansion, but Kiera simply remained standing and looking at him up and down.

"Thank you." She expressed again.

"You've said it once before. Please start on the journey back to the Mansion, Kiera. It is not advisable for you or the young master to remain out here in the cold with your fevers."

"No, this time I am thanking you for what you did earlier this year. Thank you for leading Miss Louise and me to my sons. Thank you for saving the young master and Keyron that day."

"I don't know what you are talking about." The answer came so naturally and so well timed that if Kiera was not very convinced at her conclusion, she would have been worried that she had made a mistake.

"I'm not going to ask you where you have been, what you have been doing and what you are planning to do from now onwards." Kiera answered instead, offering him her best smile. "But please take care of yourself. You might be a dead man, but you need rest too. Keyron will do fine taking care of the young ones until they are old enough to take care of themselves."

"I don't know what you are talking about." The man repeated again. "But I am fine. I have been through worse."

"I know you have." Kiera nodded, and finally turned around to start on the journey home, her body feeling hot and cold at the same time.

"Thank you, Kyrano."