The queen lay on the bed of ivory and silk, her breath barely perceptible. Her body, suspended between life and death, already seemed to belong to the shadows. But her eyes—her eyes still burned with an unyielding light.
Oris knelt beside her, his hand gripping hers. It was cold.
Like a gravestone before the grave had even been dug.
— Mother… he whispered, his throat tight.
She slowly turned her head toward him, her smile fragile, almost unreal.
— You have always been strong, my son. Stronger than the gods themselves.
Oris lowered his head. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't strong. That he had felt powerless when he had to give her that poison. But he remained silent. He knew. She didn't have much time left.
The queen took a weak breath.
— Listen to me carefully, Oris… There is something you must know before I go…
She tried to sit up, but her body was too weak. Oris slipped an arm under her shoulders, as if he could hold her back. As if he could fight the inevitable.
— The prophecy… it wasn't about your fall, nor the end of the kingdom. It was about your heart.
He frowned.
— My heart?
She gave a faint nod.
— The heart of three beats… it is yours, Oris.
The world seemed to waver.
— I don't understand.
She brushed his cheek with a trembling hand.
— One day, Oris… your heart will beat three times, stronger than ever. And on that day, you will know.
— Know what?
— That you have found her.
Her breath grew shorter. Oris felt panic rising.
— Mother, stay with me…
She gripped his hand with surprising strength.
— You will understand when the time comes… When your heart strikes three times against your chest… then, you will know that it is her.
Her gaze clouded over. Her body was already collapsing in his arms.
But suddenly—
Her final breath.
A breath that took everything with it.
Something inside Oris shattered.
Then, his heart exploded.
Once.
A violent, tearing blow, a tremor in his chest.
Twice.
Stronger, deeper, like an echo through time, as if his entire being were being torn apart.
Three times.
A strike so terrible he thought he would die with her.
The pain was unbearable. He couldn't breathe. His fingers clenched, his body twisted. He pressed a trembling hand to his chest, but it was useless. Nothing could stop this rupture.
Then, in a cry of rage and agony, he struck his own chest.
Again.
Again.
As if he wanted to rip his heart out.
As if, by breaking it, he could silence the scream inside him.
But nothing came.
Only silence.
A vast emptiness.
He opened his mouth to ask her to repeat.
But she was no longer there.
Her breath had faded, and with it, a part of Oris had burned away.
One day, he would feel those beats again. And on that day, he would find her.
The one who would save him.
The one who would finally understand what he had always wanted to ask.
The one to whom he would repeat, again and again, until she understood.
"Will you save me?"
And when, at last, she did…
Fate would be rewritten.