Chapter 61 The Night Before Execution
Elara's POV
"Elara? Are you awake?"
I jerked awake to find Faye standing outside my new cell. Better quarters, Drakon had said. Still a prison, just cleaner.
"Faye?" I sat up carefully. The chest wound had healed but still ached. "What are you doing here?"
"Saying goodbye." She unlocked the cell door with a guard's key. "They're executing you tomorrow at dawn. I couldn't let you die without..." Her voice broke. "Without telling you how sorry I am."
"You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I exposed you. I gave Drakon that deadline. I forced your hand." Faye sat beside me, tears streaming down her face. "Maybe if I'd stayed quiet longer, you could have found another way."
"There was no other way," I said gently. "This was always how it would end. From the moment Queen Morgana took Lily, my fate was sealed."
"But Drakon healed the bond! You're not bleeding anymore! Doesn't that mean he forgives you?"
"He saved my life because he couldn't watch me die. Not because he forgives me." I touched my chest where the wound had been. "The bond is mended. Barely. But the trust is gone. The love is damaged beyond repair."
"Love doesn't die that easily."
"This love might." I smiled sadly. "He's executing me tomorrow, Faye. That's not the action of someone in love."
"About that, Faye pulled out a small glowing crystal. I need to show you something. About the bond. About what really happened when it broke."
She held the crystal up. It pulsed with soft golden light.
"What is that?"
"A soul-sight crystal. It lets you see magical connections between people." Faye pressed it to my chest. "Look."
I looked down. Saw a thread of golden light extending from my heart. Thin as spider silk. Almost invisible.
"That's the bond," Faye explained. "It didn't fully break. A thread remains. The tiniest connection."
"But it shattered. We both felt it explode."
"It should have shattered completely. Should have killed you both." Faye's voice grew excited. "But it didn't. This thread survived. Do you know what that means?"
"That we're both more durable than expected?"
"No." Faye grabbed my shoulders. "It means the love was real. Completely, genuinely real. Not magic. Not dark manipulation. Real soul-deep true love."
My heart stuttered. "How do you know?"
"Because false bonds shatter completely. There's nothing left. But true mate bonds, bonds based on genuine love can't be fully destroyed. Not by lies. Not by betrayal. Not even by death. A thread always remains."
"So Drakon really loves me?" Hope bloomed painfully in my chest. "Despite everything?"
"Yes. And you really love him. That's why you're both still alive." Faye's smile was bittersweet. "That's why the bond breaking didn't kill you. True love doesn't die. It just... transforms."
"Into what?"
"I don't know. But Elara" Faye's voice turned urgent. "This changes everything. If Drakon knew the bond couldn't be faked, if he knew your love was proven real by magic itself, maybe..."
"Maybe he'd spare my life?" I laughed bitterly. "Faye, he already healed me. He already cancelled the execution once. And then he reinstated it. He knows the bond is real. He just doesn't care anymore."
"He cares. He's just too hurt to admit it."
"Then I'll die knowing he loved me once. That's enough."
"It's not enough!" Faye was crying now. "You both deserve better! You deserve a second chance! A real chance without lies!"
"We had that chance. I ruined it." I hugged her tight. "Thank you for showing me this. Thank you for proving the love was real. That's all I needed to know."
"Elara..."
"Go now. Before the guards catch you here." I pulled back. "Take care of Lily for me. Make sure she knows I loved her. Make sure she has a good life."
"You can tell her yourself! You're not dying tomorrow! Drakon won't go through with it!"
"Yes, he will. Because it's the right thing to do. Because his kingdom needs justice." I smiled through my tears. "And I accept that. I accept my fate."
"No! I won't let you die!" Faye stood up, eyes blazing. "I'll tell Drakon about the thread! I'll make him understand!"
"He already understands. He just chooses duty over love." I lay back down. "Let me rest now. I want to face tomorrow with dignity."
Faye left reluctantly, still crying.
I touched my chest where the golden thread connected me to Drakon. So thin. So fragile.
But real.
That's what mattered. The love had been real.
I could die knowing that.
Hours passed. Sleep wouldn't come. I stared at the ceiling, counting my last moments.
Just before dawn, guards entered my cell.
"It's time," one said gruffly.
I stood. Walked calmly between them.
Through corridors. Up stairs. Toward the courtyard where the execution platform waited.
Toward my death.
Toward Drakon.
Toward the end of everything.
The golden thread in my chest pulsed weakly.
And I wondered if Drakon could feel it too.
If he knew, even now, that our love hadn't died.
That it couldn't die.
That some small part of us would always be connected.
Even in death.
The courtyard doors opened.
Sunlight blinded me.
I stepped forward.
Toward my fate.
Toward whatever came next.
And silently prayed that somewhere, somehow, Drakon would find peace after this.
Even if I couldn't.