“Everyone gets the chance to have their happily ever after. You need only be open to it. This is not the end, just as this is not the beginning. It is simply an end and a beginning.
He turned to face us again.
“Your ceremony will take place today if you so wish it. But once again, I implore you to listen to your heart. What does it tell you? Which path does it tell you to take? And, will you reach the end if you do take it? It is a difficult question to answer, if not only for the reason that we very often cannot see the path’s end before we take it.
“Before we proceed, is there anyone here who does not wish to partake in the wedding ceremony?”
That worm of doubt in my heart swelled to the size of an anaconda during the Chief Elder’s speech.
Every word rang true and convinced me little by little that I needed to change path.
I always thought a white knight would be there to rescue me, but it hadn’t been Layak that saved me at all.
It had been myself.
Kayal revealed the truth to me and I made my decision.
I could just as easily undo it.
The Chief Elder passed an eye over us and turned to head back up the hallway.
“Very well, if that is the case then we shall continue—”
I stepped forward, barely even conscious of what I was doing.
“I can’t.”
Hushed whispers broke out among the others.
I refused to look back at Layak, knowing I was embarrassing him beyond all measure.
The Elder approached and towered over me.
“Do not fear. We are each here due to our own choices. If you believe your path lies elsewhere, we must not interfere. Do you believe your heart belongs elsewhere, child?”
I nodded.
“I do.”
Tears leaped into my eyes and a burning sensation stung the back of my throat.
The Elder nodded warmly.
“Very well.”
His eyes drifted over to Layak, whose expression was one of shock.
“Do not blame yourself, child,” the Chief Elder said. “Sometimes these things look like disasters until we look more closely and see them for what they truly are. Opportunities. The universe is not infallible. Your journey, like the others, does not end here. You shall join the others. Feel no shame for there is none.”
I couldn’t leave it at that.
I turned to Layak and this time met his eyes.
He was heartbroken.
It was hard to maintain his gaze but I did.
I took his hand as he had taken mine earlier.
“This isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I lost my heart on Qyah’an’ka’s surface. It has nothing to do with you. But I am sorry for not realizing this sooner. I cannot ignore the bond I share with Kayal, just as I would never ignore it if I shared it with you.”
His strength returned and he nodded with some degree of understanding.
I turned to the Elder.
“Is it all right if I make a suggestion?”
He smiled and nodded back.
I led Layak across the hall to Xat, who looked even more shocked than Layak.
I took her hand in mine and put their hands together.
“I recognize love when I see it. Maybe you can’t because you’re too close. But I can. I don’t know what stopped you from being together. Maybe it was this ceremony. Maybe you failed to get your ‘fated mate’ for a reason, Xat. And that’s because he’s been standing in front of you this entire time. I hope you both find happiness together.”
The smiles that broke across their faces were more than a little relieved.
Layak tightened his grip around Xat’s hand and joined her on her side of the hall.
They never took their eyes from each other.
The other singletons drifted toward each other too, smiling and holding hands, forming a dozen sets of newly-formed fated mates.
I turned to the Chief Elder.
“I have a favor to ask. I have to get to the Shadow Realm and need one of your ships.”
For the first time, the Chief Elder seemed unsure.
“The Shadow Realm? Are you sure that’s where your heart lies?”
“I am.”
The Elder pursed his lips.
“Then take what you need.”
I nodded my thanks, turned, and ran from the Citadel.
I clutched that bond close in my chest.
I would follow it one pulsing breadcrumb at a time.
I might be making a mistake or I could be making the best decision of my life.
Boy, I hoped it was the latter.
Kayal
The petals of the dried rose disintegrated between my fingers.
Such a small, delicate thing…
And yet, it contained so much power to influence.
Much like the lady who’d given it to me in the first place.
I stood on the cliff’s edge to the west of the Citadel.
The wind buffeted me, sending my cloak fluttering about my body.
The tips flapped and snapped.
Behind me, the shuttlecraft took off and landed from the launch pad in a cycle that never ended.
Already the ship I’d used had either been fixed or removed.
And there I stood, a lonely figure with that paper-thin flower clutched in my hand.
The memories I shared with Ava would last me a lifetime.
But if I let them, they could consume me and any chance I had of a happy future.
I would never be paired with a new mate.
That ship had sailed.
Any who failed were used in war and to lay with the breeders.
My fragile dreams clutched in the palm of one hand.
Tears stung my eyes and a hot wad formed at the back of my throat as I prepared to let it go.
I opened my hand and let the wind take the tiny fragments.
The rose fluttered as if it had wings, its petals breaking off and cast to the four winds.
I watched as it fell to the raging sea below.
I had to let the memories of Ava go just as I had that flower.
It could only cause me great pain and I no longer wished to carry the burden.
Now, my life consisted of duty.
I was nothing more than a grunt who served at the empire’s pleasure.
She
