“I never loved Guinevere.” Vince’s voice scraped raw.
“That decree you forged… I refused it. Took the punishment for defiance. A month imprisoned before I could be free. The moment I was released… I came.”
His fingers trembled against mine.
“When they said your carriage went over the cliff… Sera, I nearly followed. That’s when I knew. All these years… I was too cowardly to name what you
were to me.”
He knelt in the mud, armor be damned.
“Guinevere rots in irons. Come home. Marry me.‘
The plea in his voice shattered me.
Yet I stepped back.
“Vince… I can’t.”
“All my life, I mistook your protection for love. But you never chose me not until it was too late.”
Rain mingled with my tears.
“I’ve been by your side since I was a child. You protected me, even risked your life for me. I mistook that for love, and that’s why I couldn’t help but fall for you. I clung to you, never asking if you wanted me to. Those were all my mistakes. Maybe you still haven’t seen your true feelings for me. You’re such a good person. Maybe it’s just guilt over what happened that makes you act this way. Or maybe you just think Lord Father and Lady Mother adore me, so I’d make a suitable marchioness. But don’t confuse guilt for devotion. I won’t be your duty.
I fled before his embrace could break my resolve.
”
After that, Vince didn’t come looking for me again. But every now and then, things I used to love would
All the fragments of “us” I thought he’d forgotten.
Then came the raid at the docks.
appear at
my doorstep.
As black–clad figures swarmed the wharf, I shoved my students‘ boat to safety – turning to face the steel alone.
The killing thrust never came.
Vince materialized like some avenging spirit, bare hands gripping the assassin’s blade.
Blood painted his brow as he blindfolded me with his scarf.
“Not again,” he rasped. “Never again.”
in the infirmary, fever burned through him.
“Sera…” Delirious fingers sought mine. “You asked… if you were worth dying for…”
His whisper cleaved ine open
“I’d walk through hellfire for any soul… but only for you would I stay burning. “Two lifetimes of sorrow dissolved in that moment.
“Do you remember, before you left, you asked me a question? I want to answer it again now. Sera, I’ve never regretted saving you. For anyone else, I wouldn’t have risked my life. But because it was you, losing my life meant nothing. Without you, it would be even more terrifying than death itself.”
In that moment, the sorrow of two lifetimes dissipated. I realized that Vince had never stopped loving me.
He’d just been used to burying that love deep within his heart.
My hands trembled, and I was already in tears.
Soon, we returned to our home togetlier.
On this thirtieth birthday that cursed year- he laced our fingers tight.
Sera, I’m so lucky to have met you in this lifetime.”
The prophecy had broken.
Chapter 10
