Her love was gone, but her life had to move on, there was no question in that.

She was young, she was beautiful, she had plenty of time left for things to change.

Maybe they would even change here, at this wedding she was invited to; maybe she’d dance with her future husband, and not even know it.

It was hard watching the other couples twirl and kiss when she had no one to touch, or no one to touch her.

Shouldn’t she celebrate the love she wants the most?

It’s hard when you don’t have nearly what you want.… Read the rest

After the battle, he was lucky make it into the medical tent, let alone get a bed.

He guessed that’s what happens when you lose three limbs in one day; you get special treatment.

With two legs and an arm gone, he wondered whether he would ever walk again.

Nurses and Medics raced between the beds, doing the best they could, but I know a lot of people died that day.

I was one of the lucky ones out in that field, being tended to under the big gray dome of the sky, knowing eventually I’d get to go home.… Read the rest

“Traitor.”

“I only did what I thought was right.”

“You did what you thought was right at the expense of everyone else!”

“But I had to!”

“No, you didn’t have to. You could have made the choice that saves everyone, not just the strongest among us.”

“But they were holding us back.”

“It doesn’t matter if they were holding us back, those were our friends. You knew when you let that door close, they’d die.”

“But we’d live.”

“For what?”

Silence while his mouth opened and closed like a fish, slow, senseless.

“Don’t you still love me?”

“Well, not anymore.”… Read the rest

I stormed his castle, crossed the moat onto the muddy ground, pressing myself against the outer wall and shimmying sideways until I found an opening.

I raced up stairs, fighting off swordsmen, and people throwing rocks. But I dodged and ducked and moved higher until I found his room, where he hid from me – with her.

“How dare you barge in here?” he roared.

“How dare you betray me?”

He draws a sword and we spar, metal clanking and breaths huffing, much like they used to between us.

“You deserve this,” I say, and plunged my hilt to his … Read the rest