Chapter 8
“No!” I cried out, blocking their path.
The commotion must’ve caught the kids‘ attention–both of them came running out, wide–eyed, peeking out at the strangers in the courtyard.
Alaric’s eyes landed on them. His pupils contracted.
བ རེ ཇ ཇོ་
The boy’s sharp brows, the girl’s delicate features–everything about them screamed blood ties to Ashen.
His grip on the sword tightened, knuckles white with fury.
“You… had children?” His voice cracked, a mix of disbelief and heartbreak. “Two of them?”
I instinctively stepped in front of the kids. “Ashen, take them inside.”
He hesitated for a moment, then scooped the twins into his arms and carried them back in. The boy peeked over Ashen’s shoulder, watching Alaric with wary eyes.
And Alaric felt it. That gut punch.
If he hadn’t crushed our children with his own hands… if he hadn’t chosen vengeance over love… he could’ve been their father. Now it was just us.
/I stared straight into his eyes. “What do you want from me, Alaric?”
“I want you to come home.” He stepped forward, the tip of his sword dragging against the ground. “You have no idea how far I’ve searched. Every town, every coast–I plastered your face on every post. I punished everyone who ever hurt you. Including myself…”
He untied his cloak and let it drop, turning around.
His back was covered s
“I took every one of those sixty lashes. I had to feel what you felt–had to understand why you’d rather die than stay with me.”
His voice broke.
“I was a fool. But I’m begging you, give me a chance. Let me love you again.”
He looked at me like a man unraveling, consumed by guilt.
I almost laughed.
Once
upon a time, I used to pray he’d look at me like this. That he’d believe I was innocent. That he’d see me.
But now? It was far too late.
“Do you even remember how my brother died?”
My voice came out barely above a whisper.
His body went rigid. “You know I didn’t mean for that to happen. It wasn’t what I wanted-
–
“But you gave the order.” My voice trembled. “No matter how I begged on my knees, you wouldn’t take it back.”
“He was only eighteen. Eighteen. And even with a broken body, he looked at me and said, ‘Don’t be scared, Seraphina.‘ He carried you- bloodied and battered–over a mountain for a day and a night just to save your life!”
“And how did you repay him?”
“You let your mistress break his legs. You let her torment me. And in the end, you let them beat him to death!”
“That’s not-
Chapter 8
“}
Beek
Alaric looked like he might shatter. “It was a debt! His family owed mine! Your father murdered mine–did he show mercy?!”
“I never blamed you for wanting revenge.”
I looked up. Rain mixed with my tears.
“But my brother… he wasn’t even truly one of us. Like me, he never knew love from that house. He didn’t owe anyone a thing.”
“I can’t forgive the way you kept choosing her over me. I can’t forgive how you let her destroy our children. Again and again.”
“And I’ll never forgive you for using my brother’s death to justify your cruelty.”
Alaric’s sword dropped with a clatter. His shoulders slumped, and his expression twisted into something broken.
“I was blinded. I didn’t know what I was doing,” he whispered, pain lacing every word.
But I wasn’t done.
“So what now?” I asked bitterly. “Are you here because you love me? Or because you can’t stand the thought of someone else having me?”
He reached for my face, hand trembling–but I stepped back.
“I don’t love you anymore, Alaric.”
“That woman who once took a blade for you, who begged the healer to carve her own flesh to save you… she died three years ago, at the bottom of that cliff.”
“Don’t,” he rasped. “Seraphina, please don’t say that.”
“This is about Ashen, isn’t it?” he shouted. “Because he gave you kids?”
He lunged and grabbed my shoulders, voice wild. “I can give you that too! We can start over–forget everything!”
“Let her go!” Ashen burst out of the house, fist slamming into Alaric’s face.
Alaric staggered back, but came at him just as fast. The two mo
crashed into each other like wild beasts, fists flying.
Ashen’s lip split, blood trickling down his chin. Inside the house, the kids wailed in fear.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
I picked up the fallen sword, stepped between them, and shouted, “Enough!”
I raised the blade to my throat.
“Look at you, Alaric. You’re the Regent of the realm, and you’re acting like a madman–chasing a married woman like some obsessed fool.”
He froze.
“Married?” he croaked.
I didn’t even blink. “Yes.”
His face twisted into a broken smile. “You really married him?”
“I did,” I said clearly.
Alaric’s world shattered. The tears he’d been holding back finally spilled.
He’d never even given me a wedding.
Now I belonged to someone else.
Ashen wiped the blood from his face, stepping beside me. “Your Lordship, you came too late. We were wed two years ago.”
Chapter 8
BookSnap
BR 80%
Alaric looked between us, gaze finally landing on mine.
And he saw it.
That light–once only for him–was gone.
The Seraphina he’d known, the girl who’d loved him with everything she had, was gone.
“You really don’t love me anymore?” he whispered, barely audible over the rain.
I took a deep breath. “I stopped loving you a long time ago. The moment you chose her. The moment you
“I don’t just not love you–I hate you.”
Each word slammed into him like a hammer.
Ten years of love. Three years of searching. Sleepless nights. And this was what he got.
“I’ll wait for you,” he said, voice ragged. “A year, ten, a lifetime–I’ll wait until you come back to me.
I took Ashen’s hand and walked away without looking back.
“Don’t waste your life on a ghost,” I said. “Let go. Just like I did.”
Behind us, Alaric stood in the rain.
Alone.
And hollow.
killed my
brother.”
