Luca awoke in chains.
Cold stone pressed against his back, and iron bit into his wrists. The cell smelled of damp and despair—he was not the first to be forgotten there. His leg still ached from the injury, each movement sending sharp reminders through his body.
He did not fear the pain.
He feared what they would make Elara suffer because of him.
---
Elara was brought back to Valenridge under guard.
Her father did not shout. That frightened her more than anger ever could.
"You have humiliated us," Lord Montclair said quietly. "And you have endangered a valuable alliance."
"I love him," Elara replied. Her voice did not waver.
Her father's eyes hardened. "Love is irrelevant."
Julien stood nearby, arms crossed. "The boy will be charged with theft and seduction," he said calmly. "Both carry consequences."
Elara's breath hitched. "He did nothing wrong."
"Existing was enough," Julien replied.
---
That night, Elara was locked in her childhood room.
She remembered stories of brave women who waited to be rescued.
She laughed bitterly.
No one was coming.
---
In the cell, Luca was offered a choice.
Confess to crimes he had not committed and accept exile—or face trial, where verdicts were bought, not earned.
"Exile," he said without hesitation.
"For her?" the guard asked.
"For peace," Luca replied.
---
Elara learned of this at dawn.
"They will send him away," her mother whispered. "If you agree to the marriage."
Elara closed her eyes.
"I will not trade his freedom for my captivity," she said.
Her mother wept.
---
The trial was brief.
The sentence swift.
Luca was to be banished beyond the eastern border—where land was barren and survival uncertain.
Elara broke free during the procession.
She ran through the crowd, screaming his name. Guards blocked her path.
Luca saw her just once.
"Live," he shouted.
She collapsed as he was dragged away.
---
That night, Elara made her final choice.
She wrote one last letter to her parents.
You taught me duty. He taught me truth. I choose truth.
Then she fled again—this time without hesitation.
---
Beyond the border, Luca walked alone, each step uncertain.
He did not know if Elara would survive.
He only knew that loving her had made him something greater than what the world allowed.
And that knowledge, even in exile, felt like freedom.