Chapter 55
AURORA
Thalric’s golden eyes stare deep into mine, fierce devotion etched into every line of his handsome face. His strong arms gather me close, wrapping around me with such care, as though he fears I might shatter. The masculine scent of him—stone and rain—fills my lungs.
“I thought I lost you,” I whisper, pressing my face into the warm curve of his neck as I cling to him.
“I tried to warn you. At Malvara’s castle, I saw you.
The Ogre—” I swallow hard, remembering the terror.
“I fought her magic and found my way to you… but I couldn’t stay.
As I felt myself fading back into an enchanted sleep, I prayed that you’d survive. ”
He emits a soothing purr as he tightens his arms around me. “Your warning saved us, Auri.”
“I love you so much,” I whisper against his chest. “Please, don’t push me away again, Thalric. I don’t want to be without you.”
A low mournful sound rises in his throat, and when he pulls back to look at me, his eyes are glistening with unshed tears. “I’m sorry, Auri.”
“For what?”
Movement draws my attention behind him. Ryllen stands there quietly. His gaze holds mine for a heartbeat, guilt and sadness easily read in his features.
Thalric pulls back just enough to cup my face, brushing his thumb over my cheek. “I made a choice,” he whispers. “I had to. To wake you.”
“What choice?” Confusion flickers through me, unease rising sharply. “What are you talking about?”
A sharp hiss of pain escapes him, cutting through the quiet like the snap of a blade, and Thalric’s shoulders jerk as though struck.
His wings twitch and then snap tight against his back.
His breath rushes out between clenched teeth, a low, strangled sound that isn’t quite a groan but something he’s fighting to swallow.
My heart stutters. “Thalric?”
He doesn’t answer, jaw flexing as he drags in another breath through his nose, slow and controlled, as if he’s holding back pain.
“What’s wrong?” Panic floods my veins as I look down at his body. His legs are solid, unmoving stone. My eyes widen as it slowly climbs higher. “No,” I cry out. “I don’t understand. Why is this happening?”
“I had no choice,” he says, voice rough with emotion. “It was the only way to save you. You were dying, and I couldn’t lose you.”
Tears spill hot down my cheeks as my fingers clutch at him helplessly, as though I can somehow stop the stone from claiming him. “No, there has to be another way. Ryllen!” I look at him, pleading. “Help him! Please!”
“I’m sorry, Aurora.” He gives me a pained look. “There’s nothing to be done.”
“Please,” I whisper, cupping Thalric’s face in my trembling hands. “You swore you’d always be with me. Please don’t do this.”
His gaze holds mine, full of sadness. “You know I wouldn’t leave you if there was another way. But it was my life or yours… there was never any question, Auri.”
The stone crawls up his chest, slow and relentless as his heartbeat thuds fiercely beneath my palm.
He leans closer, gently dropping his forehead to mine as he whispers.
“My heart is stone… unyielding… yours.” He presses his lips to my own one last time before he slowly pulls away. “It has always been yours, Auri.”
His gaze holds mine, and I watch helplessly, tears streaming down my cheeks as the light fades from his eyes, the stone claiming him entirely, capturing forever the last look of love and fierce devotion.
“No,” I sob, clutching desperately at him, his body solid and unmoving beneath my touch. “No, please… come back to me. You can’t leave me like this. Come back. Please, come back!”
My knees buckle as grief overwhelms me, and I collapse against the statue he has become.
Ryllen’s strong arms wrap around me, and I pound my fists weakly against his chest once, twice, before I collapse into him, sobs wracking through my body.
Outside the window, the sun begins to rise. Life stirs as the kingdom awakens. Startled voices rise from distant corridors, but it all sounds muffled and far away as I reach for Thalric’s face again.
My fingertips trace over his cheek, the lines of stone that will never soften. “You promised you’d never leave me,” I whisper brokenly. “Tell me you aren’t truly gone, my love. Please.”
The silence that echoes in return is deafening.