Page 124 of A Kingdom's Heart
Her words were a blur in my ears. My mind could only focus on the silhouette moving in the distance. I could see him through the open gates, walking toward the ocean.
“William!” I screamed, thrashing in her hold. “William, come back!”
“Iris, please stop,” Raven said between trembles. “Let’s go back inside.”
But I couldn’t. I didn’t even hear her properly. My breath came in sharp, broken gasps, the air catching painfully in my throat. I could not breathe. My lungs burned as if the world itself had turned against me. All I could see was him, far ahead, his figure growing smaller and smaller until the night began to swallow him whole.
The man I loved. The man who had held me like I was the only thing that mattered. He was walking away, and I was frozen, watching the life I wanted slip farther and farther from reach.
My body gave in before my mind did. My knees buckled, the strength leaving me completely. The world blurred through my tears. Raven caught me before I could fall by steading her arms around me.
“Iris,” she whispered. “Come on, please. Let’s go back inside.”
I couldn’t respond. My heart was pounding so violently it hurt. The ache in my chest grew heavier, spreading until I thought it would crush me entirely.
“Come,” she said again, more firmly this time. Her hand brushed through my hair in a trembling attempt to comfort me. “Please, Iris. It’s over. He’s gone. Let’s go back inside.”
Her words stabbed deeper than she could know. Over. Gone. The very sound of them made something inside me twist painfully.
She pulled me closer, wrapping her arms tighter around me, and for a moment I let her. I let my forehead rest against her shoulder, my tears soaking into her dress. My arms rose weakly and circled her as I sobbed against her.
But then something inside me snapped.
The thought of never seeing him again, of letting him disappear forever, struck like fire through my veins. The pain turned into panic, the panic into something fierce and uncontrollable.
“No,” I whispered against her shoulder. Then louder. “No!”
Before she could react, I pushed against her. My hands gripped her arms and, with all the strength I had left, I shoved her away.
Raven stumbled back with a gasp, her eyes wide with shock. “Iris—”
I didn’t hear the rest. My feet were already moving. I ran for the railing, my skirts tangling around my legs, my tears blinding me. The world narrowed until all I could see was the open nightbeyond the balcony and the faint silver glow of the ocean where he had gone.
I threw myself at the railing and climbed before I even realized what I was doing. My hands gripped the cold stone, my skirts dragging and tearing against it. The night air bit at my skin, sharp and cold, but I didn’t care.
“Iris, stop!” Raven’s voice rose behind me, breaking with fear. “Come back, please!”
But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My fingers found another hold, and I climbed lower, the stone rough beneath my palms. Her voice grew fainter behind me, but I refused to look back. I dropped the last few feet and landed hard on the ground, my knees jarring from the impact.
Pain shot through my legs, but it didn’t matter. I pushed myself up and ran.
The wind rushed against my face, pulling at my hair and skirts as I sprinted across the courtyard. I could hear Raven behind me, calling my name again and again. But that only made me run faster.
“William!” I cried, my voice tearing through the night. “William, stop!”
My heart pounded so hard it hurt, the sound thundering in my ears. I could see the gates ahead, wide open, the world beyond them silver and dark. My slippers slipped against the dirt, butI
didn’t slow. My tears blurred everything, yet I could still see him.
He was there.
Down by the water, the faint moonlight glinting off his armor. He was standing in a small sailboat, his hands working to untie the rope from the dock post. The boat rocked gently in the waves, ready to leave.
“William!” I screamed again. “Stop!”
He froze.
For a moment, the world seemed to go still. The wind quieted, the sound of the sea softened, and everything between us felt suspended in time.
