Elara’s POV
Time slowed until it barely moved at all.
My blade trembled in my hands, hovering where Alexander’s throat rose and fell in uneven breaths. The world felt distant, muted, as though I were standing underwater. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears, loud and relentless, drowning out everything else.
I had him.
After everything—after blood and lies and stolen lives—I finally had him.
Alexander’s eyes burned into mine, bright with rage and disbelief, his chest heaving as he waited for the strike that would end him. The man who had killed my mother. The man who had poisoned my father. The man who had stolen my childhood and tried to steal my daughter.
All it would take was a single movement.
My hands refused to obey.
I lowered my blade slowly, every muscle in my body screaming in protest. The steel dipped away from his throat, catching the morning light as it fell.
“No,” I said hoarsely.
Alexander’s lips parted in shock. “What?”
“I won’t do it,” I said again, my voice steadier now, grounded in something deeper than fury. “I won’t lower myself to your level. I won’t kill like a savage criminal.”
His expression twisted, disbelief turning to fury. “You think that makes you better?”
“I know it does,” I answered.
I stepped back, sheathing my sword with hands that still shook. My legs felt weak beneath me, but I forced myself to stand tall, to look at him not as prey but as what he truly was—a man already defeated.
“You’ll rot in prison,” I said coldly. “You’ll live long enough to watch everything you tried to destroy heal without you.”
Alexander laughed bitterly. “You think a cage can hold me?”
Before I could answer, Caden moved to my side.
“It can,” he said, his voice calm but lethal. “And it will.”
He placed a steady hand on my shoulder, grounding me in a way no one else ever could. I felt his strength beside me, solid and unwavering.
“It’s over,” he murmured. “You did it.”
I exhaled shakily, the tension finally beginning to drain from my limbs. My gaze lingered on Alexander one last time, then I turned away, trusting that this nightmare was finally done.
That was when everything went wrong.
A roar of pure hatred ripped through the air.
I heard it before I felt it—the sudden scrape of boots against stone, the sharp intake of breath behind me. Instinct screamed.
“Elara—!”
Caden’s voice came too late.
Alexander lunged.
I turned just as his blade flashed toward me, wild and desperate, his face twisted into something feral. There was no thought in his eyes now. No strategy. Only the need to destroy.
I froze.
Not because I didn’t know how to move—but because my body had finally reached its limit.
Steel met flesh.
A sickening sound echoed across the field.
But it wasn’t me who screamed.
Alexander gasped, his momentum faltering as a blade pierced through his side. His eyes widened in disbelief as blood bloomed across his tunic.
William.
He stood behind his father, sword buried deep, his hands shaking violently around the hilt. His face was pale, his expression shattered, as though something inside him had finally broken beyond repair.
Alexander turned his head slowly, his breath rattling. “You…” he rasped. “My own son…”
William’s voice trembled. “You were going to kill her.”
Alexander laughed weakly, a horrible wet sound. “I created you for this,” he whispered. “To be strong.”
William shoved the blade deeper.
“I chose to be better,” he said.
Alexander collapsed.
The sound of his body hitting the ground felt unreal, distant. Blood soaked into the grass, dark and final. The man who had haunted generations lay still at last, his eyes staring sightlessly at the sky.
I couldn’t breathe.
Everything rushed back at once—the noise, the light, the pain in my chest. My knees buckled, and Caden caught me before I could fall, pulling me against him as my body shook violently.
“He’s gone,” I whispered, barely recognizing my own voice.
Caden’s arms tightened around me. “You’re safe,” he said fiercely. “You’re alive.”
William staggered back, dropping his sword as if it burned him. Blood seeped through his side now, spreading fast. He looked down at it in confusion, then up at us, his face draining of all color.
“I didn’t mean—” he started.
Then he collapsed.
“William!” I cried.
James ran forward immediately, already tearing cloth from his tunic to press against the wound. “He’s been hit,” James said sharply. “Badly.”
Caden released me and dropped to one knee beside William, pressing his hands over the bleeding. “Stay with us,” he ordered. “Don’t you dare die now.”
William’s eyes fluttered, unfocused. “I couldn’t let him,” he whispered weakly. “I couldn’t let him hurt her.”
I knelt beside him, my hands slick with his blood as I helped James bind the wound. My throat burned painfully.
“You saved my life,” I said softly. “Hold on. Please.”
His gaze shifted to me, guilt and relief tangled together. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “For everything.”
I shook my head. “That can wait. You need to live.”
His breathing grew shallow.
James looked up at Caden, urgency written across his face. “We need to move. Now.”
Caden nodded sharply. “We’re getting him back to the castle.”
As we lifted William between us, the sun fully crested the horizon, bathing the field in golden light. Alexander’s body lay behind us, motionless, finally silent.
I didn’t look back.
Some endings did not deserve to be remembered.