Chapter 62
Alaric’s POV
The meeting ended in silence. I made sure the riders were ready to escort the Luna and her sister by first light. The travel permits had been signed. The supplies accounted for. Every possible breach in their path accounted for.
Everything was in order.
Everything, except my mind.
The halls of the castle felt colder than usual. Emptier.
I found Knox and Mira in the east courtyard. They were sitting on the steps near the old fountain–Knox nursing a drink, Mira with a half–burned cigarette between her fingers, her boots kicked up against a broken column like royalty.
I raised a brow. “Comfortable?”
Mira blew out a stream of smoke. “You’re the one who built this graveyard. I’m just making myself at home.”
Knox snorted into his glass.
I didn’t reply. I just folded my arms and leaned against the wall behind them.
Mira glanced at me, her sharp eyes unreadable. “So it’s done, then? She’s leaving?”
“Yes.”
“To spy,” she said flatly. “With the one person who hates her guts.”
“She can handle herself.”
Mira laughed dryly. “Oh, I’m sure. The girl’s got fire, I’ll give her that.” She turned to Knox. “He’s really doing it.”
Knox raised a brow. “Doing what?”
“Sending his one shot at redemption into the jaws of death.” Mira looked back at me, smoke curling from her lips. “Brilliant idea, your majesty.”
I didn’t react.
Mostly because I didn’t have the energy to fight her.
She leaned forward now, cigarette dangling between two fingers. “You know the curse won’t be broken. Not like this.”
curse
“Don’t start,” I muttered.
“No, no, let’s talk about it. Her voice dipped with sarcasm. “You remember the witch, don’t you? The one you gutted in front of her temple? The one who screamed her curse with blood in her mouth?”
Knox stiffened beside her, but I didn’t move.
“She said when the last petal falls–this whole place turns to stone. Every single soul bound to you will rot in silence. Forever.”
She flicked the ash off her cigarette.
“And guess what? The petals are almost gone. But instead of doing something smart–like not pushing away the only person who makes you feel-” she exhaled a bitter laugh, you send her away. To her sister. To the rebel King. And for what?”
the agreed to go.”
“She would’ve agreed to walk into fire if you asked nicely.”
1 glared at her, but Mira didn’t flinch.
“You know I’m right,” she said, her tone cooler now. “You’re scared”
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Chapter 62
I didn’t deny it.
I just looked away.
Mira stood up, brushing ash fro
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her coat. “You’re the king, Alaric. Everyone in this castle worships you, fears you, bleeds for you. But none of that means a damn thing if you let her die.”
She walked past me, pausing only to murmur-
“When that last petal drops… we all turn to dust. And you’ll still be pretending it wasn’t your fault.”
Then she was gone.
Knox sat quietly for a while, sipping his drink. The silence stretched until he finally said, “She’s a pain in the ass, but she’s not wrong.”
I didn’t answer.
Because I already knew that.
The wind stirred faintly around us, brushing across the courtyard, carrying the scent of ash and dying petals.
She reminds you of her, doesn’t she?” Knox added, his voice quieter
now. “The first.”
I closed my eyes for a second.
Not because I didn’t want to talk about her–but because I hated the part of me that still remembered.
“Aurelia,” I said eventually, the name bitter on my tongue. “She was… softer. Sweeter. She believed everyone could be saved.”
Knox didn’t speak, just nodded slowly.
“She used to sing to the flowers,” I went on. “Thought they could hear her. She’d braid wild rosemary into my hair and tell me it was for luck.” I scoffed under my breath. “I didn’t need luck. I needed to not be cursed.”
“She loved you,” Knox said.
“Maybe,” I murmured. “But she feared me too.”
I glanced down at my hands.
“There was a night,” I said quietly, “before the curse fully took hold. I woke up covered in blood. I thought it was a nightmare, but she’d been clawed. Three long gashes down her side. I didn’t remember doing it.”
Knox’s eyes dimmed. “You told me she slipped.”
“She did. On her way out.” I paused. “She ran the next morning. Didn’t even say goodbye. Just left a note and a crushed sprig of rosemary on the bed.”
He didn’t say anything. Didn’t have to.
“She didn’t die, you know, I added, turning my gaze to the sky. “I kept tabs on her for a while. She lived far west. Married a merchant. Had children.”
Knox blinked. “Why didn’t you…”
“Because she never looked back,” I said. “Because I killed whatever love she had for me.”
Knox leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Liana’s not her.”
“She’s not going to run just because you’re cursed
“She might,” I muttered. “When the learns the rest.”
Kros arched a brow. You haven’t told her everything?”
i shook my head slowly. “Only what I had to. Not what happened to the others. Not what I did before the curse. Not what I became
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Chapter 62
after.
Knox sighed. “You’re a bastard.”
“I know,” I said again.
O
We sat in silence for a moment longer, the wind picking up again, scattering a few dry leaves across the stone floor.
Then Knox stood. “You could still fix this, you know.”
I looked up at him.
He gave me a faint, crooked grin. “Talk to her. Before she goes.”
“And say what?”
He shrugged. “Something honest, for once.”
And with that, he walked off into the night–leaving me alone with the ghosts I’d tried too hard to bury.
But they always came back.
Especially the ones that wore rosemary in their hair.
I leaned back against the wall, staring at the sky that never quite looked right. The moon always too full. The air always too still.
It was a strange thing, having time running out but the world pretending everything was fine.
“She’s going to break you, you know.”
Mira’s voice drifted from the shadows, soft but laced with the kind of bite only she could manage. I didn’t need to turn to know she was leaning against the archway, arms crossed, a cigarette glowing between her fingers.
“She already has,” I said, without humor.
Mira scoffed. “And yet you’re still pretending she means nothing.”
I glanced at her. “She’ll be safer that way.”
“She won’t,” Mira said, stepping closer. “You think you’re protecting her by holding back, but you’re not. You’re just delaying the inevitable. And when it all comes crashing down, she’ll be the one left choking on the ruins.”
I said nothing.
Mira sighed, dragging the cigarette to her lips and letting the smoke curl between her words. “I liked the others, you know. The ones before her. Not all of them. Some were stupid. One screamed so hard she shattered glass.”
“I remember.”
“But some..” Mira paused, exhaling. “They cared for you. They wanted to fix you.”
I looked at her then, finally.
“And what happened to them?”
She stared back, eyes tired. “You buried them.”
The words landed like a blade.
Because it was trise.
I buried too many women.
Women who thought they were strong enough to withstand the curse. Women who thought their love could conquer madness. Women who died because I let them near me.
And now and was next
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Chapter 62
“She’s different,” Mira said, softer now. “But that doesn’t mean she’s unbreakable.”
“She’s stronger than she looks.”
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“So were the others,” Mira snapped. “But they didn’t have a kingdom watching them, waiting for them to fail. They didn’t have enemies plotting their death, or a rebel king hoping she delivers your downfall.”
I rubbed my face, the weight of it all pressing harder than ever. “She’s not like them.”
“No, she’s worse,” Mira said with a laugh. “Because she’s not trying to save you.”
I frowned. “What?”
“She’s not trying to fix you, Alaric. She doesn’t want to be your redemption. She just wants to be seen. Heard. Protected. Loved.” Mira’s voice dropped. “And you won’t give her even that.”
My throat tightened.
Mira stubbed the cigarette out on the stone railing, then turned away. “I hope she survives you.”
And then she was gone.
And
Leaving only the fading scent of smoke and the truth.
AD
