Page 31 of He Will Always Love Me

A chuckle escapes him, and I can’t help but let out one of my own. He shakes his head. “Reckless then.”

“Recklessly brave or recklessly stupid?”

“Definitely recklessly stupid.”

I laugh again, and a strange sense of warm familiarity settles in my chest.

“Why did you save me?” Revnan asks quietly.

I open my mouth to answer only to realize I don’t really have a response. Everything leading up to saving him was almost all instinct.

So I shrug. “I just knew that I needed to. It was as if something was pulling me to be there to save you. Like I was destined to.”

I laughed a little when I realized how ridiculous this all probably sounded. “Or, you know, something like that.”

But when I meet his eyes, he almost looks understanding. “I’ve always felt like I’m at the beck and call of destiny. Like I’ve been guided my whole life to be exactly where I am. And when you came to save me, that felt like destiny, too.”

I stare at him, more than a little surprised. “Doesn’t that bother you at all? That you feel like you’re at the whim of destiny?”

He shakes his head. “No, it never feels like a whim. More like a purpose. Like it’s something that I’ve always been meant to do.”

I gesture around us. “I hate to break it to you, but this is where destiny has led you.”

But instead of looking around, he looks right at me. “Yes, it seems this is where I’m meant to be.”

Despite the circumstances, I can’t help but blush a little. He’s such a strange man, and all this is so strange. But despite all the strangeness around me, I don’t regret my choice to save him.

Over the next few weeks, I sneak back to the schoolhouse to check up on Revnan. I always make sure to either have some excuse about leaving or sneak out so no one sees me leave. There’s no telling what people would do to him if they found out about him. Or me, for that matter, for harboring him.

He slowly begins to heal and regain his strength. As I nurse him back to health, we begin to talk more. I tell him about everything going on in town, and he tells me stories of his troop.

As time goes on, our conversations become increasingly personal. I tell him about memories I have of invasions, and Revan recounts battles he’s fought in. Before I know it, I’ve confided in him more than anyone else I know.

Maybe it’s because he’s a stranger. I’ve heard that sometimes a person can tell more to a stranger than they can someone they’ve known their whole life.

But that doesn’t feel like the case to me. Everything about Revnan is so familiar, but no matter what, I can never really place why. It’s all in the curious looks he gives me, the way we banter with one another, or even the quiet moments. In all of it, I become more and more sure that I’m where I’m meant to be.

It isn’t always easy getting to him, though. In fact, in the time he’s been here, there have been more unusual occurrences than ever.

A windstorm that peeled the roofs off of houses. Acid rain that lasted for three days. A raging sickness in the town where every medically inclined individual was needed to help.

Whispers start to circulate in the town about bad omens. People say that all this tragedy means our world is on the brink of disaster.

I always snort when I hear those comments. Don’t they already know that disaster is already here?

Throughout all of it, though, I always fight my way to Revnan to check on him. Even though I’ve only known him for a few weeks, I can't imagine not seeing him regularly now. I always look forward to our talks and his wry comebacks and curious looks.

Sometimes I stay so late that I even consider staying the night. But every time I quickly push that thought away. Especially when those daydreams begin to wander into… less-than-appropriate territory.

It is a particularly icy day today and I know logically I should be bundled up by a fire. But I need to check on Revnan, so I put on as many layers as I can and start the trek.

As I approach the schoolhouse, the first thing I notice is fresh footprints on the snow leading up to the doors. I freeze, and my heart pounds inside my chest.

Someone had gone in. Someone has probably already found Revnan.

As quietly as I can, I slip in the door and carefully make my way to where Revnan is. As I get closer, I begin to hear voices.

I move into the room housing Revnan and duck behind a bookcase. Slowly, I peek out to see who’s there.

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