So, here it was. Dying on the ground where she had first met Gizel. The man she

loved

hated so damn much. Sol-Falena had fallen to its Prince. Her nephew. He was watching her die, bleed all over the ground. He wasn't crying, much to her surpise. He had always been a crybaby when he was younger.

But, then again, maybe she shouldn't be so surprised. This was the boy--no, man, who led an army against Gizel Godwin, the man who took everything from him.

Well, he was his father's son, that's for damn sure. He just didn't know when to give up. And that's why they were here. She had misjudged her own nephew and that damn woman. It was all Gizel's fault. He drove her to do this, the bastard, he knew exactly how to weave his words around her, leaving her no exit, and she fell for it everytime. In the end, she was only another puppet at his disposal, another plaything for his own perverse amusement. She could only fall into the cold comfort of his arms, again and again and again.

She hated

loved

him so much.

She was dimly aware of a woman telling him to go, to go and reclaim Sol-Falena. To go home.

She wanted go home. Oh god she wanted to go home and drink herself to sleep and wake up and pretend this never happened and--

goddamn that woman. Why couldn't she just get out of her life and let her die in peace? Why hadn't that flood washed her away? Why hadn't it washed everything away? She thought she could finally take control of her life and do something for once, and wash it all away, never to be seen again. But, again, that damn Lucretia had taken the flood like she knew it was going to happen two years ago. Damnit.

The looked at each other. Somehow, she knew it was going to be this way, in the end. Lucretia was always three steps ahead of everyone, and now she was looking down upon her dying body. But she wasn't paying attention. She was busy watching her nephew run home. He never stopped to look back at her.

Maybe that's what she had done wrong. She looked back and reached for the past too much. She clung to the memory of her sister, and her home, her family, everything. Everything before Gizel had come along. She wanted it all back and

Mommy! Mommy, look what I made!

Not now, Sialeeds, Mommy's busy.

M-Mommy, Arshtat pushed me again! T-Tell her to--

What? Oh, Sialeeds, I haven't got time for things like this. Go play somehwere else, okay?

Mommy?

Mommy?

Mommy, wake up. Wake up, Mommy. Mommy, I'm scared, please wake up, Mommy wake up wake up wake UP

she wanted to do things over again, do things right this time.

But that's just not how the world works, now, does it?

She had thought she was ready to die without any regrets. But she had so much she wanted to do. So much she wanted to apologize for. She wanted to tell her nephew how much she loved him, how she had underestimated him, how she was so sorry, apologize to Georg, he had been ready to kill her, and would have killed her had the Prince not stopped him. And now all she could do was lie on the floor and wait to die. She couldn't do anything for herself. She never could. She had fooled herself into thinking she could. Gizel had fooled her into thinking she could. Arshtat was the only one who brought her back down, and when she had died and left her alone, she played her sick game all over again. She had her regrets, and there was nothing she could do.

"Look after the Prince for me... would you?"

"I heard you the first time you asked me"

"Ahaha... words... can't express... how much I hate you."

Living wasn't so great, after all.

Dying wasn't much better.