Aldronn

Pain spears my heart, echoed by my bride’s anguished scream.

“May,” I try to say, but my lips don’t seem to work. Nothing seems to work as I crumple to the floor.

Her face appears above me, the only bright spot in encroaching darkness. I can’t hear anything but a loud whooshing noise like the sound of the waterfall where we first made love. It’s peaceful, so peaceful I could close my eyes and go to sleep. But May’s upset and crying, her mouth moving frantically as she yells at someone off to the side.

I don’t want her to cry. I want to kiss away her tears. I want to stroke her hair until she relaxes against me with one of her soft little sighs. I want to tell her I love her, even though she told me not to yet.

A unicorn horn flashes silver across my darkening vision, jabbing into my shoulder. A bolt of magic bursts through me, full of warmth and love. Pain clenches my chest with white hot agony, and I hate it—a part of me wants to return to the bliss of numbness.

But May grips my shoulders, her tiny hands shaking me. Her voice comes as if from a distance. “Stay with me, Aldronn. Don’t you dare fucking give up!”

For her, I face the pain and fight.

For my bride. My queen.

For the woman I love.

My chest becomes a burning torment, and I can feel the flesh knitting back together.

My moon bound’s dear eyes hold mine as my heart beats again for the first time, as my lips whisper the most important word in all the worlds, “May.”