The End

I circle Eldrid, my sword held high. Everything I’ve worked for, everything I’ve done for the past two years, was for this moment. When it’s just the two of us. He smirks, lifting the scar jutting across his temple closer to his chestnut brown hair. I’d given him that scar on the day I’d discovered his lies. And he’d given me the scar on my chin the same day. His stunning, icy blue eyes hold no trace of the amusement twisting those lips. They rarely did. 

  “Lyria, did you really expect to waltz in here and kill me that easily? After everything?” His rich voice reminds me of better times. Times when neither of us would dream of raising a blade to the other. But he'd ruined that. I press my lips together, not deigning to respond to him. The smirk falls away, my silence wiping it from him.

  “You forget, brave one. I know you better than you know yourself. I expected this. I expected you.” 

Screaming at the nickname he'd given me after a battle we'd won together, I lunge forward, and he's barely fast enough to prevent his own impalement, twisting to the left and parrying my strike. Eldrid taught me the move, of course. He probably had been expecting it. But I kick out, taking his left foot out from under him, and he hits the stone floor of the dark chamber hard enough I hear the bone cracking in the knee he lands on. I smile.

  “But did you expect that?” I snarl. He shoots back to his feet, flicking my sword to the side. Pain shoots across his face, thawing those icy eyes that once warmed only for me. I circle him once more, looking for holes in his defenses. Searching for a way to end him, once and for all.

  “Lyria, it's not too late to stop this. There's a better way—” I rush forward again, cutting him off. A flurry of strikes and parries leaves both of us with trembling limbs before he backs off. There's a shallow cut across his chest where I'd nearly accomplished what I'd set out to do. 

  “You did this, Eldrid. You lied. How many times did you promise me we would make this hellhole a better place? How many times did you swear we were only weeks from winning the war? That we would rule together once your father died?” His mouth falls open, but for a small eternity, it seems like I won't get my answers.

  “I lied? I'm the liar here? Lyria, how do you reason that? I have a duty to my kingdom, to my people, and I couldn't let—” I shake my head, screaming once again. He won't tell me any more lies. He sidesteps another blow, then another. Eldrid's stronger than me, but I've always been faster. I prove it with my next blow, scoring a gash on his shoulder. More of his blood drips to the slick stone under our feet. Another savage smile curls my lips. “I couldn't let anything get between myself and my duty, brave one, not even you.” He continues.

  “I would've given up everything for you, Prince. I would've summoned the stars from the sky if you desired. But you broke your promises to me. I loved you, Eldrid. I gave you everything. And you gave me nothing in return.” My anger calls to the power in my blood, the power he'd once encouraged me to hold back. I let the power build, the buzzing in my head becoming a delectable rush I'd never been able to fully deny. He tenses, his senses warning him about the power I'm about to unleash.

  “Lyria, don't. Please. You're better than this. Stronger than this. You know what it does to you, to your—” My power flares outward like a viper, a dark bolt of energy tossing him to the ground. He screams, the sound echoing in the stone training area under the palace. Deep in my soul, I can hear the echo of my god's laughter, urging me to use the power again. So I do.

 My power lifts Eldrid off the ground, his back bowing as he writhes against the energy coming from the depths of my soul. The same soul he'd once warned me my powers would destroy. But that had been yet another lie. If my powers could really do such a thing, I wouldn't have a soul left. Not anymore. And I know there must be a soul left within me, because it cries in sympathy for the man I'd once loved, despite everything. I cut off the power, and the prince of Callianthe drops to the ground again, blood dripping from his nose and the corners of his mouth. 

 A ragged laugh escapes him as he turns to face me. “I always knew you would be the death of me, Lyria, though I didn't expect it to be like this.” He struggles to a sitting position, the sound of his gasps of pain tearing into me, cutting little nicks in my heart. “I knew from the first moment I saw you, sitting at the top of that hill, your beautiful golden hair flying in the breeze. I knew it the first time I heard you laugh. It was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. I knew the first time I saw you fight, that one day your sword, just as sharp as your wit, would one day be buried in my flesh. And I knew it the moment you realized I would not go along with your plan to kill my father, to take the kingdom for ourselves. You threw your dagger at my face and gave me this scar. You were so beautiful, even then, that I didn't do what I should've and cut off your head. I let you dodge my blade then, brave one.”

 My free hand flies to the narrow scar on my chin. He's lying. He wouldn't have let me go then. Eldrid had just learned my mission was to eliminate the Callithian royal family. His family. He'd just learned that I'd decided the best course of action was to use his love for me and take over instead. The war would've ended much faster that way. Two years of bloodshed would've been prevented that way. The Callithian people would've been sold into slavery, of course, but so many lives would've been saved. His life would've been saved. 

  “I know what those Valenti bastards did to you. I know that power of yours makes you beholden to the god of death, Lyria. That's why I tried so hard to keep you from using it. A piece of your soul is destroyed every time. Watching you these past two years has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Because, despite knowing you would kill me one day, I love you. I've always loved you. I love you now, when there's nothing left of you but misguided wrath. Please, Lyria. Prove to me there's something else in there. Please.” He shudders, and I know he doesn't have much time left. My power crushed something vital within him. 

 I kneel beside him, as he falls from his knees back to the stone. I pull his head into my lap, his chestnut hair nearly the same color as the leathers I wear. His features tighten with pain. “You could've stopped this Eldrid. You could've lived. We could've been together.” I whisper.

 He laughs, and it's as raspy as his breaths are becoming.

  “No, Lyria. We couldn't. Not while you still sought to destroy my people. Because my duty is to them, no matter where my heart lies. I just wish you'd understood.”

 There's a fiery lance of pain in my chest, and I look down to see the dagger I'd once thrown at him buried deep. 

 We die there, together. But Eldrid did what he needed to. My people pulled out after I didn't return. 

 Eldrid ended the war. I ended us.