Her clothes were in disarray, her face a mess of tears.
“No! Damien, my lord, you can’t do this to me! Damien…!”
Despite her wretched cries, the guards dragged her away.
JATI The vast, dark night, then turned his gaze to the closed doors of the inner cha
Elara, even if you hate me… just give me one chance to repent. Please.
08
The lanterns of the Lord Regent’s estate burned all night.
When the physician finally emerged, the front of his official robes was stained dark with blood.
Damien rushed to him. “Master Physician, my wife… is she… how is she?”
His voice trembled. The door to the inner room was open, but he didn’t dare look inside.
He was terrified of what he might see.
The physician’s voice was grave. “Her life has been saved, my lord. But…”
The flicker of hope in Damien’s eyes was instantly extinguished.
But what?”
Chapter 2
i ne ticker of hope in Damien’s eyes was instantly extinguished.
“But what?”
“My lady… she has very little will to live. Whether she wakes up or not is in the hands of fate now.”
The physician let out a long sigh and, with his young apprentice, shuffled away.
Damien stood frozen in place. He stared at the open doorway for a long time, unable to take a single step.
It wasn’t until the steward brought the moming meal that Damien, like a soulless automaton, finally entered the room and went to my bedside.
I lay there, perfectly still, my face pale as death, but my chest rose and fell in a steady, shallow rhythm.
He pulled a stool over and sat beside me, taking my hand in his.
“Elara,” he rasped, his voice raw and ugly, “the physician must be lying to me.”
“You are so strong. How could you possibly lose the will to live?”
The words hung in the air. Damien paused, then let out a laugh that was more like a sob, tears streaming down his face.
She thought she had married her true love, but the meeting was a lie, the affection a lie.
The man she shared a bed with forced her to watch as her parents were beheaded.
All because his own family had been executed, and the blood of a hundred and eight souls had splattered the hem of his robes as he hid in a corner.
Her parents were dead. Her lover was her enemy. She had tried to die countless times.
But she had clung to life for five agonizing years, all for a promise.
She had watched her husband surround himself with other women, had endured the nightly humiliation beneath him.
When she finally had a child, hope was rekindled. She had picked up a needle and thread and sewn clothes for the baby.
But that little red bundle was buried in the frozen earth.
And then she was forced to watch as her own child was burned to ash, powerless to stop it.
How could she possibly lose the will to live?
How could she not?
These five years… they were the absolute limit of her endurance.
Damien clutched my hand, all his defenses finally crumbling. He wept, his body shaking with grief.
