Page 43 of Gift from the Source
She knows the answer, just won’t admit it.
“I was given a deadly poison. It’s called the Poison of Essence,” I whisper.
“But poisons have cures. We can find you a cure,” she says enthusiastically, attempting to hop up, but I latch onto her hand.
“These cures aren’t readily available, my girl. They take days to brew, and this is a drug that’s been banned for some time now. But obviously, there will always be those who don’t follow the law.”
“That needs to change. All of it. They should be ready for whenever and whatever. And those that break the law to this degree should die.” She spits out with just as much venom as what’s coursing through my blood.
“I agree,filia mea.”
She closes her eyes tight as her body trembles through the pain of feeling my soul slowly start tearing itself away from her and the grief that’s already washing over her. I’m experiencing it just as keenly, but watching her go through it is far worse.
I wish I could take it all away.
“The first option,” she whispers so quietly, I barely heard her.
“What?”
“Choose the first option.”
“Willow—”
“No. I understand everything you said. You may be trying to protect me, and I may be kept in a prison, but I’m not naïve. I know what it all means. I know what will happen. I accept that.” Her words break at the end, betraying the brave face she’s attempting to show me.
“You do not have to choose that path. That’s why we’re given choices. You do not have to endure that,filia mea,” I mumble as my tears choke me up.
“I understand, but the life I will have after that will be more fulfilling. My soul knows it. That life will bring me everything I’ve ever wanted. I just have to survive in order to get there.
“The other… Always hiding. Always looking over my shoulder. Always alone. Always scared. Yeah, I’m going to experience that with option one as well, but at least it’s for less time and what I get out of the wait will be worth it. If you can explain to me why, other than being safe, option two is better, I’ll choose that one.”
I don’t have a good enough reason. That’s the only reason.
I can’t tell her the men I painted a picture of in option one won’t be the men she finds in option two. In option two, they’ll be hers on a soul level, but they’ll have already gone back on their word of never settling. The four of them will be more jaded, uncaring, and resentful for making the decisions they had to make to feel like they were completing their duties to the realm.
It’ll be a mountain worth of drama, on top of saving said realm.
There will be a twenty-year time difference from when she could potentially get to Elementra compared to the eight she will wait in option one.
“You being safe is what matters to me,” I say.
She smiles at me softly as her tears stream down her cheeks and neck. “I promise you, I’ll fight. I won’t give up. I’ll make it home in one piece.”
A shuddering breath falls from me as I can’t hold my sobs in any longer. Right before my eyes, my six-year-old little girl has grown up to be an eighteen-year-old woman who makes life-changing decisions with sound reason and determination.
I hate it.
I love it.
Fuck Elementra, I’m going to miss her so much.
Looking down at her stone again, I gently run my fingers across it.
“Tell me, Seer. Is this a present for today or another?”
“Another.”
“Very well. Spend your remaining moments with your daughter. I will take care of the rest when it is time for you to come home.”
