Chapter 14
In the ruins of an old border town, Garrick sat waiting astride his horse.
“General Aveline,” I greeted, polite and distant.
His breath caught.
It was the coldest I’d ever sounded with him–in this life or the last.
His eyes reddened. His throat bobbed.
home with me.”
“Lysandra… come home w
I lowered my gaze.
“Do you want a war?
If a princess sent to secure peace was taken back so soon, Kestrel would never let it slide.
“With me around, Kestrel’s army won’t get anywhere near our borders.”
looked at him, then shook my head
In our past life, after Selene’s death, he defended the ldngdom for seven long years,
Maybe this time, without me dragging him down, he really could hold the line.
But war came with a cost–and it was always the people who paid.
And.. Garrick didn’t always win.
“As long as I live, there will be no war. You should go back to your wife.”
“I never married her.
His voice cracked
I blinked
“I keep having this dream,” he murmured, gripping the reins tightly. We got married. But all we did was fight.”
“Then the enemy broke through. I barely got you out… but you came back..and jumped.”
I couldn’t speak.
“In my dreams, I’m desperate to stop you.”
“Yet every time, I fail–and when I wake, I remember you’re already gone. Sent north to wed Kestrel.”
I stayed silent.
“Tell me, did all of that really happen?”
“Is that why you agreed to this marriage–because you’d already lived through it all?”
I turned my horse away.
Go home, General.”
“Dysandra!”
“If you’re doing this because of me,” he shouted, “then I want you to come back!”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe! I’ll keep Kestrel behind the border for the rest of your life!”
I laughed–coldly as I turned to him.
“Don’t flatter yourself, General”
“You said I was a disgrace of a princess, remember?
“I’m just trying to prove otherwise.”
His face paled.
He remembered the cruel words he’d once thrown in anger.
“I didn’t mean that… I was upset. I never truly thought-”
“It doesn’t matter, General”
I smiled as the wind whipped my hair across my eyes, half–blinding me.
*If I wear the crown, I carry the weight.”
“My choice had nothing to do with you, General.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
His eyes turned red.
I guided my horse a few steps away.
Then I looked back.
“Garrick.”
He looked up.
“I’ll do everything I can to hold Kestrel back”
“As long as I breathe, I won’t let his army cros
“If I fail, I’ll die with my country.”
cross the border.
“This… this is the last time we’ll ever meet.”
He looked like he couldn’t breathe
“Lysandra!”
“General.”
My voice cut through the rising wind.
“I wish you a long, peaceful life–with children, warmth, and no regrets.”
I turned and galloped away.
Behind me, his shouts and the sound of hooves were swallowed by the waste.
“Lysandra!!
