Aldara looked so small compared to the man holding her hostage. His knife pressed against her neck, one arm locked around her waist with brutal strength. Strangely, she seemed more frightened to see me than of the blade that threatened her life.
"Release her," I ordered. The answer was mocking laughter.
"And who the hell are you?" one of them sneered.
The sharp edge grazed her skin, and a thin line of blood trickled down her neck.
It would have been so easy to end them all if Aldara's life weren't at stake. But her safety chained every choice I could make.
"You've made a mistake," I said coldly. "Elladan has no interest in the girl."
"Do you take us for fools?" growled the one who seemed to lead them. "Our sources say otherwise. The God of War is obsessed with this maiden from another world—the one he waited centuries to claim. Of course he's interested."
"Your sources are wrong!" I declared, watching as my guards circled behind them. "Elladan brought me here when he had the chance. We are married now. The girl is only a friend—and he doesn't even know she's here."
The sound of clashing steel broke the air. Blades flashed, men fell—on both sides. But the one who held Aldara remained untouched. We were losing.
"If he doesn't know," the man snarled, "then make sure he does! You have until sunset—if you want your little friend back in one piece."
How dare he?
No. No, no.
This cannot happen!
"Wait!" I shouted, desperate. "He won't come for her—but he might come for me."
I met the man's eyes. "Let her go safely with my guards, and I'll take her place. I won't resist."
Once spoken, the promise could not be undone.
"Isolda, no!" Aldara's voice broke. "Elladan will never forgive me!"
Sweet, innocent Aldara.
He would never forgive me.
But I could still make things right. With the pact sealed and the rebel's trust won, there was only one thing left to do. As Aldara fled toward the guards, I walked slowly toward the rebels, weighing the cost of my choice.
She was safe now, and the enemies were few. All she needed to do was wait for Elladan—he would handle the rest.
Before the enemy leader could seize me, I ran for the cliff's edge—and jumped, plunging into the fate I had chosen.
My life flashed before me. My heart ached for Ethan—would my son ever forgive me? My thoughts drifted to Aldara, who would now have to survive in a world she barely knew. And then—to Elladan.
Always Elladan.
He was the one I longed to see most as the wind tore at my body, pulling me down into darkness.
And there he was.
The reason I'd had time to think at all.
His will alone could slow the passage of time—but never reverse it. For the first time, I saw helplessness in his eyes. Despair. My vision blurred, and maybe it was only an illusion, but a red light flared before me—piercing, alive.
When I focused, I saw it wasn't his light. It was mine.
Elladan was still the same. But I—
I was no longer the same Isolda.
Perhaps I never had been, not in the way I believed, or the way I wished to be.
For the first time, I acted not for duty, or family, or justice, or loyalty.
I did it for him. Only him.
I had always believed Elladan could never love me—that was my only truth.
To doubt it was to risk lying to myself again.
But what if I had been wrong all along?
What if I was the only one among us who never truly understood what love meant?
I—
I tried to speak, to make him hear me one last time. But it was too late.
Time could wait no longer.
And all that remained was deep regret—
and endless darkness.