I had lived two lives.
In both, I followed Lester Vance into quiet retirement after he hung up his armor, living peacefully, wanting nothing from the world.
And in both, his adopted sister clawed her way into the imperial palace and dragged us down with her. Our house was raided. Our family, executed to the last.
It always started the same way. She would kneel outside our thatched cottage, sobbing that the Emperor had cast her aside, that he'd chosen another woman as his consort.
Lester would set down his hoe and sigh. "You know I can't stand watching you cry."
Then he'd pull his dust-covered armor from the chest and follow her back to the capital.
It took dying twice for me to understand.
All that talk of sibling devotion.
Every word of it was a lie.
——
Lester Vance was returning to Aurelia in triumph, and every eligible girl in the city had rushed to the gates to welcome him home.
I was the only one walking the other way.
My little sister Gemma Abbott tugged at my sleeve. "Norma Black, aren't we going to meet him?"
I should have been. In both my previous lives, that was exactly what I'd done.
The script never changed.
I congratulated him on his victory.
He proposed in front of the entire city.
We married, we grew old together, we never parted.
It took a third life to see the truth: I'd given my heart to the wrong man.
I tightened my grip on Gemma's hand. "We're going home."
The crowd pressed in from every side, the air thick with dust and the stench of too many bodies. Each breath felt like swallowing stones.
Gemma pointed at my hair. "But you got up before dawn to do your hair. Wasn't that for him?"
"Did he make you angry? Is that why you won't let him see your pretty hairdo?"
I had no answer for that.
I reached up and pulled the crabapple blossom from my hair.
Placed it in my palm and crushed it, slowly, between my fingers.
Once, a bright-eyed boy had tucked a twin-stemmed crabapple blossom behind my ear.
He made me promise to wear one when I came to welcome him home from war.
And so for ten years, I, who never cared for anything flashy or ornate,
always pinned the most vivid crabapple blossom I could find before going to see him.
I stood beside him through his glory days, his fine robes and fast horses, his meteoric rise.
And my reward was a sword through the belly and a family in the ground.
This life, I intended to live differently.
I walked faster.
Gemma rose on her toes and hurried to keep up.
Behind us, the crowd erupted.
Hoofbeats hammered closer, louder, shaking the ground beneath my feet.
"Norma!"
A man's voice split the air beside my ear.
My feet stopped. My body turned, stiff as a board.
Lester Vance sat tall on his warhorse, silver armor gleaming, a black-gold crown framing sharp brows and striking eyes. He was so handsome it almost hurt to look at him.
"Not going to congratulate me on my victory?"
He watched me, expectation written across his face.
Every girl in the crowd turned to stare at me, green with envy.
Once, I would have basked in those looks.
Savored the certainty that I was the only one in Lester Vance's heart.
Until I saw with my own eyes what he did for Scarlett Vance.
Then I understood. All that devotion he'd shown me was nothing but a screen to hide the feelings he could never let the world see.
My voice came out flat. "The line of people waiting to congratulate you stretches from one end of this city to the other, General. You won't miss me."
His brow furrowed. "Three years apart, Norma, and this is what you have to say to me?"
I let my gaze drift across his face, calm as still water. "Oh, one more thing. When you find the time, send our betrothal contract back to the Black family."
Lester froze.
He swung off his horse and nearly stumbled on the landing.
"What is that supposed to mean? Explain yourself."
I had no interest in explaining anything to him.
The only thought in my head was to get as far from here as possible.
Girls swarmed around Lester, closing in like a tide.
I seized the chance and slipped away with Gemma.
She squeezed my palm. "You don't want him anymore, Norma?"
"Everyone says he's a great hero who won the war. They're all fighting over him!"
"Why doesn't my sister want the great hero?"
I didn't know how to explain it to her.
Probably because when a great hero decides to betray you, he does it more ruthlessly than anyone else.
He doesn't just crush your heart.
