Page 12

Hugh

We made our way through the corridors toward the east wing, where the oldest stonework housed the family chapel.

The afternoon sun cast long shadows through diamond-paned windows.

I listened to every sound, every shift in the air. It felt almost as if the curse… or Ravina knew what we planned.

“There,”

Madison said, pointing.

“We should place the rings on the altar.”

I removed my ring first, and immediately the weight I’d carried for so long lifted.

The gold band felt warm despite its usual coldness, and I fancied I could hear whispers emanating from the metal itself.

Madison struggled more with hers, the band having tightened around her finger as if refusing to be removed.

I helped her work it free, and the moment it left her skin, she gasped in relief.

“I didn’t realise how much it affected me,”

she said, flexing her fingers.

We placed our rings on the altar stone.

In an instant, the temperature in the chapel dropped.

Shadows, made not of my magic, gathered in the corners despite the bright afternoon sun, and the whispers grew loud enough that even Elizabeth could hear them.

You think to defy me? To escape the fate, I have woven for you.

Ravina's voice echoed off the stone walls as the air shimmered above the altar.

Moments later, she appeared, exactly as she had in our visions, with silver-white hair, flowing like liquid moonlight, and an ageless face marked by centuries of pain and cold calculation.

Do you believe that true love exists? she said, her eyes studying us both with ancient wisdom.

Or is it another beautiful lie we tell ourselves as we walk willingly to our own destruction.

“I know what happened to you,”

Madison said, stepping forward with compassion rather than defiance.

“I read Queen Charlotte’s account.

You were betrayed by the one you loved. He used that love to try and steal your power. But not all hearts are treacherous.”

Ravina's expression shifted, curiosity replacing some of the hardness.

Words are easy, child.

Love speaks sweetly until the moment of choice arrives. When faced with sacrifice or salvation, what will he choose? What will you…?

“We will always choose each other.”

Ravina laughed, a bitter sound that held no joy.

Sweet child.

You sound just as I did when I believed Darius’s promises. I wanted to share the world with him… my power, my secrets, my very soul. But as I prepared to speak the binding words that would join us forever, he drove a dagger through my heart.

The spectral figure raised her hands, and made visions dance in the air around us.

She showed us an image of Darius approaching her castle, his eyes filled with false love, and his honeyed words masking deadly intent.

We watched the moment of ultimate betrayal. Darius with a concealed dagger behind his back, a black raven shrieking a warning too late, Darius silencing it forever.

He could have ruled beside me as an equal, Ravina said, her voice carrying centuries of pain.

Instead, he chose to steal what I offered freely.

She gestured, and new visions formed.

I saw myself faced with a terrible choice… Madison's life or my power, her safety or my family's legacy.

In the vision, I hesitated, calculated… I chose preservation over sacrifice.

There, Ravina said with grim satisfaction.

Love is a fallacy.

A fairy-tale. It falters when the price becomes too dear.

“Not for Queen Charlotte and King Astor,”

Madison said.

Queen Charlotte and King Astor were an anomaly.

I’ve watched and waited for more than a millennium and never found a love that matched their own.

Do you truly believe that yours can?

“I do,”

I said with certainty.

Madison and I had forged a connection deeper than physical touch, deeper than whispered words of love.

I reached for that bond now, and let my shadow magic flow through it.

Madison's golden light merged with my darkness, creating perfect balance. Neither light nor shadow, but harmony that made Ravina's projections waver.

Show her, I said to Madison through our connection.

Show her what real love looks like.

Madison drew more deeply on our bond, but instead of channelling just my power, she projected the truth of our feelings directly into Ravina's consciousness.

Our genuine connection, our willingness to sacrifice for each other, our absolute trust despite the curse's attempts to corrupt it.

Impossible, Ravina whispered, but her voice carried wonder rather than denial.

You would truly choose her life over your own power?

“Without hesitation,”

I said.

“That’s not even a choice to be made.

Her life, her happiness, her freedom. All of it matters more than any power I might possess.”

Madison amplified my declaration, letting Ravina feel the absolute truth of my words….

I would sacrifice everything for the woman I loved.

Ravina studied us both, her ancient eyes searching for deception and finding none.

Perhaps...

she said. But words are still just words. The rings must be destroyed, and that will require true sacrifice from both of you.

I felt Madison draw more deeply on our connection, channelling not just my power but my absolute trust in her.

This was the moment Ravina expected me to betray that trust, to pull back when faced with potential loss of control.

Instead, I opened myself completely to Madison's influence, letting her guide our combined magic with perfect faith in her wisdom and strength.

The rings on the altar glowed brightly.

Their golden surfaces heated until they were painful to look at.

Ravina shrieked in fury, her form becoming more solid as she poured her remaining strength into maintaining the curse.

I will not be denied!

She lunged forward, her spectral hands reaching for the rings to protect them from destruction.

But Madison was ready.

Our combined power surged outward, creating a barrier of light and shadow that Ravina could not penetrate.

“Hugh, now!”

Madison called.

I directed every ounce of shadow magic I possessed into the rings, while Madison continued to project the truth of our love directly into Ravina's consciousness.

Ravina’s expression shifted from hatred to pain, as if she remembered what it felt like to love without reservation, to trust completely before that trust was shattered by betrayal.

Then the rings shattered with a sound like thunder, and Ravina disappeared.

Her form dissolved into a mist that was swept away by winds that touched nothing else in the room.

Madison swayed on her feet, exhausted.

I caught her and held her against my chest.

“It is done,”

she whispered.

“The curse is broken.”