"I...altered fate?" She asked with her eyes wide open.
"Yes." Arel answered.
There was one question sitting in her chest, and if she didn't ask it now, she knew it would haunt her forever.
"Why?" she asked suddenly.
Alaric felt her tense beside him.
"Why did you kill so many people? So many innocent Eldorians. What were you trying to prove?"
For the first time since she had known him, Arel didn't smile.
Something in his face broke.
"I wasn't trying to prove anything," he said. "I wasn't even trying to win."
Daphne frowned. "Then why?"
He leaned back as far as the chains allowed, breathing unevenly.
"Because I stopped being normal a long time ago," he said. "I stopped being the man you knew."
Alaric's arm tightened around Daphne, but he said nothing.
Arel's eyes stayed on Daphne.
"The man you remember died with you. When you died, something in me broke beyond repair." He continued.
Daphne's throat tightened.
