Kane whips around, towering over me, the tips of his hair brushing against my face. His voice rasps out his next words, a whisper in the wind. "Am I a fool then for loving that butterfly?"
"Don't be foolish. You can't love me. Everyone I love dies." I press a gentle kiss against his chin, melancholy turning the sweetness of the gesture sour. "I'm far worse than a butterfly. I'm a parasite."
He takes my face between his hands, his thumbs brushing against those blood-drop earrings staked through my ears. "I chose you very deliberately during those Contests, my love. You are the last Champion I will ever have. I die with you."
"God or mortal, men are the same. They give their hearts away too easily. And they call women the hopeless romantics." I reach up, cupping his face in my hands in retaliation. "Don't you see? There's no love in a warrior's life. We were born to die. How can I think of a future with you? How can I bring children into this cruel world, just to leave them behind like my mother left—." I bite my lower lip. Idiot. I've said too much.
"Ode..."
Pity.
Pity.
I don't deserve your pity.
I move one hand to hover over his lips, tracing the contours of his face, laughing to hide my sadness. Old wounds ripped open. "Hurt me. Burn me. Hell, kill me. But never do that. Never pity me, Kane."
I push past him, his frame silhouetted by the shadows of night, shifting from deep black hues to a fainter blue. Soon, the sun will rise.
And with sunrise, comes Cato.
"Come," I turn away from his pain, "we have to reach Elio before your brother does."
"Live or die, it's all the same to you." Kane stands there, his hands still on the sheets, his clothes still on the floor. "Isn't it, warrior?"
I don't know what to say, so I say nothing at all. The moment passes, and I just lean against the doorway, watching Kane get dressed. Black robes falling over gleaming skin, silver hair bouncing toward his shoulders. If I could rip out my heart, I would.
In fact, I think I already did.
***
Well, Champions,
Ode has spoken about her pains when it comes to love.
But, the bigger question now, will Kane accept that?
Best
Sophia