Chapter 93
The rescue had stretched well into the afternoon.
Smoke drifted across the shattered mountainside as rescue teams emerged from the narrow tunnel again and again.
Some miners stumbled into the arms of their waiting families.
Some had to be carried.
Others...Never came out at all.
The mountain demanded a price with every passing hour.
Turner stood at the entrance, tightening the straps around his gloves.
The newly opened shaft was barely wide enough for a single man to squeeze through.
One shift of stone.
One failing support.
And the passage would become a tomb.
Alistair stepped beside him, "Captain."
Turner didn't look away from the entrance, "I know."
"It isn't stable."
"I know."
"There has to be another way."
Turner let out a slow breath, "If there were, we'd already be using it."
Alistair fell silent. They both knew the truth. Time had run out. Footsteps broke the silence.
Fast.
Uneven.
Desperate.
"Turner."
He turned.
Aurora.
She was hurrying toward him, one hand gathering her skirts as she crossed the uneven ground.
Her sleeves were stained with blood.
Loose strands of hair clung to her face.
She looked exhausted.
But the fear in her eyes struck him harder than anything else.
She stopped before him, still trying to catch her breath.
"You can't."
He kept his voice gentle, "My Lady...we agreed I will go"
"No.", She shook her head.
"You are not going in there."
Around them, conversations gradually faded.
Knights paused.
Rescue workers looked up.
Even the sound of shovels seemed more distant.
Turner lowered his voice, "They're still alive."
"I know."
"They're waiting."
"I know."
"Then you understand."
She stepped closer.
Close enough that he could see the exhaustion behind her composure.
"And if the tunnel comes down again?"
He held her gaze, "It might."
"And if it does?"
He was quiet for a moment, "Then it does."
Her expression crumpled, "You speak as though your life means nothing."
His answer came without hesitation, "It means enough that I should spend it well."
Those words stole the breath from everyone within earshot.
Aurora stared at him, "I've spent the entire day fighting to keep people alive."
Her voice faltered, "...Don't ask me to watch you walk into that mountain."
Something tightened painfully inside his chest.
He wanted to reach for her.
Instead, he kept his hands at his sides.
"If your father were trapped beneath that rock..."
His voice remained steady, "...would you ask another man to take his place?"
She said nothing.
"If it were one of the children from your school?"
Silence.
He smiled sadly, "I didn't think so."
A tear escaped before she could hide it.
Without thinking, he lifted his hand.
His thumb brushed it gently from her cheek.
Only afterward did he realize what he'd done. His hand immediately began to withdraw.
Aurora caught it.
Not tightly.
Just enough to stop him.
For a heartbeat...Neither of them moved.
Turner looked down at their joined hands.
How many times had he imagined holding her hand?
Walking beside her.
Sharing quiet mornings over tea.
Watching her laugh.
Simple dreams.
Dreams he had never allowed himself to believe in.
Not once.
Not ever.
Slowly, he looked back at her.
"There was something you once told me."
She blinked through her tears.
"You said that the people beside us are often the ones we forget to truly see."
A faint smile touched his lips, "I've remembered those words ever since."
His voice softened, "I don't think you ever realized......how easy you are to see."
Aurora's breath caught.
He had not spoken of love.
He hadn't needed to.
The silence between them carried everything he couldn't say.
A few steps away, Lucian felt his chest tighten.
He had spent months trying to find the right words for Aurora.
Turner had spoken only a handful...
Yet somehow, they reached places Lucian's never had.
For the first time...
He understood what he was afraid of losing.
Turner gently slipped his hand free.
He turned toward the mountain, "My place is there."
Aurora caught his sleeve.
One last time.
"...Please."
It was scarcely louder than the wind.
He looked back.
Their eyes met.
"I'll do everything I can to come back."
It wasn't a promise.
It was the most he could honestly give.
He bowed his head toward Owen, "My Lord."
Owen's jaw tightened, "Bring them home."
"I'll bring back everyone I can."
Turner picked up the waiting lantern.
Fastened the rope around his waist.
Without looking back again...
He stepped into the darkness beneath the mountain.
Aurora remained exactly where she stood.
Her fingers slowly closed around the empty space where his sleeve had been.
She watched until the light of his lantern disappeared into the blackness.
Only then did she lower her head.
Lucian watched her in silence.
She hadn't tried to stop Turner because he was a knight.
She had tried to stop him because he was Turner.
That realization settled heavily in his chest.
For the first time...
The man he feared most wasn't a prince.
It wasn't a duke.
It wasn't someone who could rival him in rank or power.
It was a knight...
Who had earned Aurora's trust long before anyone realized how precious it had become.