Blood soaked into the dirt beneath her.
Too much.
Far too much.
Seraphine's body was cold in my arms, her breath shallow, uneven. Her armor was split open where the blade had struck, dark red spreading across the silver plates.
My hands were shaking.
No.
Not again.
Not her.
I pressed my palm harder against the wound.
"Stay with me," I said, my voice breaking despite myself. "You're not allowed to leave. Not now."
Her lashes fluttered.
"Kael…" she whispered.
"I'm here," I said quickly. "I've got you."
The soldiers rushed forward.
"Your Highness, we must move her—"
"Now!" I snapped. "Find a healer. Anyone. If she dies, I will burn this forest to ash."
They ran.
I lifted her carefully, holding her against my chest as if I could shield her from the world itself.
Her blood soaked into my clothes.
Each step felt like I was carrying the weight of my past life with me.
In my first life, I had died alone.
In this one…
I refused to let her do the same.
We reached the shelter of a rocky overhang.
A Nightvale medic dropped to his knees beside us, hands glowing faintly with healing magic.
But when he touched her wound…
His face went pale.
"My lord," he said quietly. "The blade was enchanted. It's suppressing recovery."
My heart slammed against my ribs.
"Can you stop it?"
"I can slow it," he said. "But without a high-grade spell… her life force is fading."
Seraphine's fingers twitched weakly in mine.
I leaned down, my forehead pressing against hers.
"Listen to me," I whispered. "You saved me. You stood in front of blades meant for my heart. You don't get to leave after that."
Her lips curved faintly.
"You always… talk like a king," she murmured.
My throat tightened.
"This isn't a command," I said. "This is me begging."
Her eyes searched mine.
For the first time…
There was no armor in them.
No general.
No Nightvale heir.
Just a woman standing at the edge of death.
"…I was supposed to be your enemy," she whispered.
I shook my head.
"You were never my enemy."
She swallowed.
"Then what… am I to you?"
The world seemed to hold its breath.
In my first life, I had never said the words.
I had never allowed myself to feel them.
But death was here.
And I was done being silent.
"You are the reason I want to live," I said. "The reason I fight. The reason I refuse to kneel."
Her breath hitched.
"Seraphine… I choose you. Over the throne. Over the empire. Over everything."
Tears welled in her eyes.
"…Kael…"
Her fingers tightened around mine.
"Then… don't let them take you away from me."
I lowered my head until our foreheads touched.
"I won't," I whispered. "Not in this life."
A sudden voice cut through the moment.
"You're very sentimental for a dead man walking."
I looked up.
The robed messenger stood at the edge of the clearing.
Alive.
Unharmed.
Watching us.
Rage flooded through me.
"You," I said.
He smiled faintly.
"You refused our offer. So we escalated."
I rose slowly, never releasing Seraphine's hand.
"Who ordered it?" I demanded.
His gaze flicked to her bleeding form.
"You already know," he said. "Not your father. Not the council."
"Then who?"
"The Crown Regent," he said.
My blood went cold.
My uncle.
The man who ruled in my father's name.The man who controlled the Shadow Guard.The man who, in my first life, had taken the throne the day after my execution.
He had planned everything.
My fall.
My death.
The war.
Seraphine tried to sit up.
"You used me… to get to him," she said weakly.
The man nodded.
"She was never meant to survive," he said casually. "Her loyalty to you made her… inconvenient."
Something inside me broke.
Not cracked.
Not bent.
Shattered.
I stepped forward.
Slow.
Controlled.
"You will leave," I said. "Now."
He raised a brow.
"And if I don't?"
I drew my sword.
"This time," I said, "I don't ask permission."
He studied me for a long moment.
Then he laughed.
"You think killing me changes anything? The empire will hunt you. Brand you a traitor. Strip you of everything."
I thought of Seraphine's blood on my hands.
Of her choosing me over the throne.
Of a future where I bowed again…
…just to survive.
I met his eyes.
"Then I will burn the empire that tries to take her from me."
I moved.
One strike.
Clean.
Final.
The man fell without another word.
Silence returned to the forest.
But it was no longer the same silence.
It was the kind that follows a point of no return.
I turned back to Seraphine.
She was watching me.
Not with fear.
With understanding.
"You've crossed the line," she whispered.
"Yes," I said.
"And there's no way back now."
I knelt beside her again, gripping her hand.
"They will call me a traitor," I said. "They will send armies. They will try to erase me from history."
Her lips curved faintly.
"…Then let them."
I pressed my forehead to hers.
"If you live… I will tear down everything that tried to kill you."
Her eyes closed.
"I know."
The healer's magic flared suddenly.
Light poured over her wound.
Her breathing steadied.
Not safe.
Not healed.
But alive.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
She was still here.
But the world we knew…
…was already gone.
Because tonight, I did not choose survival.
I chose war.