FATE

I have always been told fate can’t be changed. That there’s an invisible string connecting us to our soulmate, pulling us together across time and space. They say the gods never make mistakes.

But what if they do?

Or worse…

What if someone else did?

What if the person waiting at the other end isn’t a rhythm your heart is familiar with? What if destiny is just another word for tragedy dressed in pretty lies?

I coughed blood onto the cold floor, watching it pool beneath me like a dark mirror.

“Look at her,” Morgana sneered, her voice dripping with pure disgust. “A failure. Always was. Always will be.”

The knife remained buried in my side, the steel as cold as winter as if betrayal itself had taken shape. But what hurt most what cut deeper than any blade was the way my husband stood there watching me die.

Watching.

Not moving. Not crying. Not even pretending to care.

“I never loved you, Adelaide.” Dorian’s voice was flat, emotionless. “I only put up with you because I wanted the Drakoria Empire for myself.”

The words hit me harder than the stab wound.

And yet, for just a second, something inside me whispered that they weren’t the part that hurt most.

It was the strange emptiness I’d carried for years. The feeling that somewhere along the way, something had never been quite right.It was the strange emptiness I’d carried for years. The quiet feeling that something inside me had never fit quite right. I had buried it beneath promises, beneath hope, beneath the certainty that the gods couldn’t be wrong.

I buried the thought beneath the pain. It didn’t matter now.

“But you promised,” I whispered, my voice breaking like glass. “You promised to always protect me. You… you promised.”

I coughed again more blood, more pain. I could feel my life slipping away like sand through desperate fingers. Each breath was a war I was losing.

Soon, I burst out laughing. It was a broken, hysterical sound. The kind of laugh that comes from somewhere so deep and wounded that it doesn’t even sound human anymore.

“I was crazy,” I gasped between sobs and laughter. “Absolutely insane. Thinking someone would actually choose me. Thinking I could be loved.”

I looked up at the crystal chandelier I’d once spent hours choosing. At the empire I’d foolishly called home. At the man who had been counting down the days until my death.

“So this is my fate?” I asked no one. “To die like this? Have I been a bad person? Do I really deserve this?”

The silence that answered me was worse than any words.

“Adelaide!! Adelaide!!!”

I woke up gasping, drenched in sweat, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. The sheets were twisted around my legs like I’d been fighting something in my sleep.

Huh? Was that… was that a dream?

I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling my heartbeat fast and frantic but there. I was alive.

Today. Today feels familiar.

“Adelaide!!!”

That voice. I knew that voice.

My mother.

I threw myself out of bed, my bare feet slapping against the cold floor as I ran. I ran like my life depended on it. Like if I wasted even a single second, I’d lose her all over again.

If this is a second chance if this is even just a dream I want to be in my mother’s arms.

“Mom!! Mom!! Where are you?”

I crashed through the hallway, my nightgown tangling around my legs. I didn’t care. I needed to see her. I needed to touch her.

“Hey there, sweetie.” Her voice was soft, confused, but so familiar it made my chest ache.

I threw myself into her arms, holding her so tight I was probably hurting her. I buried my face in her shoulder, breathing in her scent, lavender and honey and home.

“Hey, darling. Mom’s here. Be calm.” She stroked my hair gently. “Was it a nightmare?”

“No, Mom.” My voice cracked. “I thought I lost you. I thought I thought you were gone forever.”

She pulled back slightly, looking at me with those warm eyes I’d missed more than I could ever say.“You won’t lose me, sweetheart. I’m right here.”

I wanted to believe her. I wanted to stay in this moment forever.

“You should go get ready,” she said softly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Lord Drakoria will be here soon.”

Lord Drakoria.

Dorian.

The name hit me like ice water.

Oh. Oh, God really did give me a second chance.

Today was the day. The day he would come to propose marriage. The day I had once accepted the man everyone said the gods had chosen for me. The day I stopped questioning the uneasy feeling that had lived in my heart from the moment I first met him.

Back then, I called it fear.

Now… I wasn’t so sure.

“This time…”

This time I would change my fate.

I pulled away from my mother, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. My eyes were still wet, but my voice had steel in it now.

“Mom, I won’t be able to meet him. I’ll be busy mastering my sword art.”

She blinked in surprise. “But… he’s your soulmate.”

The word made something inside me tighten.

It should have comforted me.

Instead… it felt strangely heavy. Like a weight I’d been carrying so long I’d mistaken it for part of myself.

“Please tell him I’m unavailable.” I kissed her cheek quickly. “I love you, Mom. More than you’ll ever know.”

I turned and walked away before she could argue. My hands were shaking, but my steps were sure.

One mistake is forgivable.

Making the same mistake twice is a choice.

If fate truly wanted me beside Dorian…

Then this time…

Fate and I are going to war.