Chapter 241 Preparation for Banishment
Chapter 241
RAVENNA
Forty-eight hours.
Two days to say goodbye to everything I'd ever known.
I spent the first day in a grief-stricken haze, barely able to function.
My father held me whilst I sobbed into his chest, my body shaking so violently I thought I might break apart.
"I'm so sorry," I choked out between sobs. "I'm so sorry for everything."
My father's arms tightened around me, his own tears falling into my hair. "You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing. Do you hear me?"
But I did.
I had so much to apologize for.
Sam refused to leave my side, sitting on my bed with her arms wrapped around me, crying alongside me.
"This isn't fair," she kept saying, her voice broken. "This isn't fair. You didn't do anything wrong."
"It doesn't matter," I whispered. "Fair doesn't matter anymore."
Theodore came later that afternoon.
He didn't say anything at first, just sat quietly in the chair by my bed.
His presence was a comfort—solid and steady when everything else felt like it was falling apart.
Finally, he spoke, his voice rough. "I'm going to miss you."
The simple honesty of it made fresh tears stream down my face. "I'm going to miss you too."
Dorian brought food that evening—sandwiches, fruit, things he knew I liked.
I couldn't eat any of it.
My stomach was twisted into knots, and the thought of food made me nauseous.
"Please try," Dorian begged, his eyes red from crying. "Just a little bit."
I shook my head. "I can't. I'm sorry."
Torren came last, carrying a heavy leather-bound book under his arm.
He sat on the edge of my bed, his expression serious but not without hope.
"I'm going to keep researching your condition," he said firmly. "I'll find a way to reverse this banishment and bring you home someday."
I wanted to believe him.
But I couldn't let myself hope for something that would probably never happen.
"Thank you," I whispered. "For everything you've done for me."
Torren took my hand. "You're not gone yet. Don't talk like this is the end."
But it felt like the end.
It felt like my entire world was ending, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
On the second day, I forced myself to prepare properly.
The Council had granted me permission to return home under strict guard to collect my belongings.
Six armed guards escorted me from the detention cell to my father's packhouse.
I felt like a criminal being transported to execution.
In my room, I pulled out a single backpack—the one I'd used for school, now repurposed for survival.
I packed practical clothes: jeans, t-shirts, a warm jumper, a waterproof jacket.
A first aid kit that Torren had assembled for me.
The silver dagger I had gotten for my sixteenth birthday.
And a photo of my mother, the only one I had, worn and creased from being carried everywhere.
Everything I owned, everything that mattered, reduced to thirty pounds.
I sat on my bed and wrote letters.
The first was to my father.
Dad,
Thank you for loving me even when the world told you not to. Thank you for fighting for me, for believing in me, for being the father I always needed. I'm sorry I brought this pain to your door. I'm sorry I couldn't be the daughter you deserved. Please forgive me. Please be happy. Please live.
I love you more than words can say.
Ravenna
The second was to Sam.
Sam,
You were my first real friend. The first person who saw me and chose me anyway. Thank you for every laugh, every secret, every moment of joy you brought into my life. Please don't let my banishment destroy you. Live fully. Be happy. Fall in love. Do all the things we talked about doing together. And when you think of me, don't cry. Just smile and remember the good times.
I love you.
Ravenna.
The third was to Theodore and Dorian.
Theo and Dorian,
Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for accepting me into your lives, for treating me like family even when I didn't deserve it. Theo—you were the brother I never knew I needed. Dorian—you brought light into dark times. I'm grateful for both of you. Please take care of each other. Please take care of Darius.
Love,
Ravenna
I tried to write one to Darius.
I sat there for an hour, pen in hand, staring at blank paper.
But I couldn't find words adequate for what I felt.
How do you say goodbye to the person who owns your heart?
How do you put into words the depth of love and gratitude and sorrow that threatens to drown you?
Finally, I just wrote:
I love you. I'm sorry. Please be happy.
I left all the letters on my desk where they'd be found.
The bond between Darius and me throbbed constantly.
His anguish was so overwhelming I could barely breathe through it.
It felt like drowning in his pain whilst trying to manage my own.
Late that afternoon, I heard shouting downstairs.
Then footsteps pounding up the stairs.
My door burst open, and Darius stood there, his chest heaving, his eyes wild.
The guards who'd been posted outside my room tried to stop him, but he'd already pushed past them.
"You need to leave," I said, my voice breaking.
"No," Darius replied, crossing the room in three long strides.
"Darius, please—"
"No," he repeated, more forcefully. "No amount of what you do will make me leave you. You could scream at me, hit me, tell me you hate me—I'm not leaving."
He sat on my bed, and I felt something crack inside me.
"I don't want you here," I lied. "I don't want you to see me like this."
Darius took my hand, his grip firm. "Too bad. Because I'm here, and I'm staying."
He followed me back to the detention cell that evening.
The guards tried to stop him, but he simply walked past them and sat on the floor beside my cot.
"Sir, you can't be here," one guard protested.
"Arrest me then," Darius replied calmly.
They didn't.
He spent the night on my floor, holding my hand through the bars of the cot, whispering promises I begged him not to make.
"I'm coming with you," he said quietly.
"No, you're not," I replied, my voice firm despite the tears streaming down my face.
"You can't stop me."
"Darius, please." I gripped his hand tighter. "You have a life here. Do you hear me? You have a family. A future. Don't throw it away for me."
He shifted closer, his eyes meeting mine in the dim light. "You are my future. Without you, none of this means anything."
"That's not true—"
"It is true," Darius interrupted. "And you know it. The bond between us isn't just magic, Ravenna. It's everything. You're everything."
I sobbed, unable to hold it back anymore. "I can't let you give up your life for me."
"You're not letting me do anything," Darius said gently. "I'm choosing this. I'm choosing you."
The night before my banishment, Darius took my face in his hands.
His eyes were fierce and desperate, burning with determination.
"I've made my decision," he said, his voice unwavering. "And nothing you say will change it."
Dawn broke cold and grey, fitting for an ending.
I was woken by guards at first light and given time to wash and dress.
They escorted me from the detention cell to the border of Silvercreek Pack territory.
The entire pack had gathered, a massive crowd stretching back hundreds of yards.
Some were celebrating, their voices loud and vindictive. "Finally! The curse is leaving!"
Others looked sombre, uncomfortable with the cruelty of what was happening.
But they were silent, unwilling to speak against the Council's decision.
I was escorted through the crowd in a formal procession, guards on either side of me.
My single backpack looked pathetically small against the enormity of what was happening.
The border was marked by ancient stones,.massive rocks that had stood for centuries, marking the line between pack territory and the wilderness beyond.
Richard and Martina stood near the stones with the Mooncrest elders.
Martina was crying openly, tears streaming down her face.
Richard looked torn apart, his duty as Alpha warring with his heart.
Marcus stood nearby, his jaw tight, his fists clenched at his sides.
I walked slowly, forcing my head high despite the tears streaming down my own face.
I refused to show weakness.
I refused to give satisfaction to those celebrating my banishment.
When I reached the border stones, I turned to look back one final time.
In the distance, I could see the academy buildings where I'd been happy once.
The pack lands that had never truly accepted me.
My friends clustered together: Sam sobbing into Dorian's shoulder, Theodore wiping his eyes roughly.
And my father, held back by guards, his face destroyed by grief.
He mouthed something I couldn't hear: "I love you."
I mouthed back: "I love you too."
Then my eyes found Darius.
He stood apart from his family, staring at me with such intensity it burned.
I took a breath.
Lifted my foot to step across the border—
"Wait!"
Darius's voice cut through the silence like a blade.
He pushed through the crowd toward me, and my heart stopped.