The door creaked as it swung shut behind the armored man, his footsteps fading into the distance. Elara stood frozen in the center of the room, her mind racing, her heart a tangled mess of emotions she couldn't quite untangle.
Kaelen was gone.
But something darker lingered in the air now—something that hadn't been there before. A coldness that crept into the room, a whisper of things she couldn't escape.
The curse.
Her pulse quickened at the thought, the tendrils of it wrapping tighter around her chest. She had no control over it. No way to stop it from unfolding. The curse was not something you could escape, no matter how hard you tried.
"Don't go," she whispered to the empty room, her voice hoarse. But she knew, as always, that it would do no good.
The curse would not allow her to refuse the inevitable. She had known it the moment she had laid her hands on Kaelen's wound—knew that the curse would make itself known again.
It had been dormant for years. She had thought it was finally under control, that she could live her life without falling into the same trap that had claimed her mother, and countless others before her.
But now, Kaelen. His life, tied to hers in a way she could never escape.
Elara moved slowly to the window, gazing out into the darkening sky. The moon was full tonight, casting a pale glow over the land. Her gaze lingered on the distant trees, the edges of the forest where shadows seemed to stretch endlessly. It was in those shadows that the curse had first taken root—when she had been just a child, when she had seen the destruction it brought.
Her mother had always been too careful, too controlled. But one slip. One moment of weakness. And her mother had fallen in love.
And the curse had claimed her.
Elara shook her head, as if to dislodge the memories. They did her no good. They only made her feel more trapped.
She had learned from her mother's mistakes, learned that love was dangerous. That love, especially for those who were destined to die, was a death sentence in itself. And yet, here she was, standing at the edge of it again, unable to stop the inevitable.
The sound of horses' hooves pulling her from her thoughts. She glanced out the window again, her eyes narrowing as the sight of the approaching riders made her pulse quicken.
The prince.
He had left, but it seemed that the pull of his destiny had led him right back to her doorstep.
Elara turned away from the window, her breath coming in shallow bursts. The door to the cabin creaked open again, and Kaelen stepped inside, his face pale, his movements slow but deliberate.
"I couldn't leave," Kaelen's voice was soft, his words almost an apology. His eyes found hers, the depth of their gaze unsettling in its intensity.
"Why?" Elara asked, almost too quietly. "Why come back?"
His lips parted as if to respond, but then he hesitated. The weight of whatever truth he had been about to share seemed to disappear into the air between them.
"Because I'm not leaving without you."
The words rang out in the quiet room, louder than they should have been. They seemed to hang there for a long moment before Elara could speak.
"You don't understand," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "You don't know what you're asking."
"I know enough," Kaelen said, his voice firm. "I know that I'm dying." His eyes caught hers, and she could see the flicker of something else—something far too familiar. That sense of inevitability, of fate tying them together, even if they hadn't chosen it.
The curse was already working its way into him, she could feel it. The same way it had bound her mother, and her grandmother before her. A slow and steady pull, one that was inescapable.
"Elara," he said, his voice softer now, a strange urgency in his tone. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I know one thing: I'm not going to face this alone."
She stepped back, the weight of his words pressing against her chest. She could feel the darkness that had always hovered at the edges of her life—right there, on the cusp of overtaking her again.
"I don't want this," she whispered, her breath catching in her throat. "I don't want to love you. I can't."
Kaelen didn't reply at first. Instead, he stepped closer, his movements slow but purposeful.
"I don't think we have a choice in the matter," he said, his voice low. "We are bound, whether we like it or not. It's destiny."
Elara's heart twisted. "You're wrong. It's the curse. It's not fate. It's a death sentence."
She turned away from him, staring at the wall, the tremor in her hands betraying her composure.
But Kaelen wouldn't let her go. He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "We can't avoid it forever, Elara. We need to face it."
She swallowed hard, her emotions tangled into a knot. She had spent so long running from this. So long trying to ignore the fact that the curse was still there, waiting for the moment it could claim her—could claim them both.
"I don't know how to break it," she whispered, the vulnerability in her voice cutting through the air between them.
"You're the only one who can," Kaelen replied softly. "And I believe you'll find a way."
Her heart thundered in her chest, her mind reeling from the weight of his words. She wanted to push him away, to say that it was hopeless, that nothing could stop the curse. But deep down, she couldn't shake the feeling that perhaps Kaelen was right. Perhaps there was more to this than she realized.
Her thoughts swirled, but one thing was clear: this journey—this curse—was far from over. And the road ahead would be even more dangerous than she had ever imagined.
End of Chapter 1