Kayla’s heart plummeted at her ex-lover’s words. She forced a swallow past the icy metal tip pressed against her throat. “You wouldn’t dare kill me. Not the prince’s fiancée.” She voiced an empty threat. “Imagine the wrath of the king you’ll bring down on yourself.”

Lucius chuckled, his dark, sinister eyes gleaming with amusement. “You were the prince’s fiancée. Don’t you know the laws of the king’s court? The prince is one of three people to vote on the decrees, and they always agree. The king, his son, and a third person so reclusive nobody has ever seen him. Your exile was unanimous. He let you go without even laying his eyes on your lovely face.”

He pushed a little harder on the blade, and Kayla felt warm blood trickle down her neck. Against every fiber in her body, she dared not display any sign of discomfort for Lucius to see. To keep the shame and sorrow from overwhelming her, she channeled all her strength into rage.

“You were hopeless. Alone all along.” Lucius placed his hand in his satchel and retrieved a long, dark blade. An all-too-familiar blade. All Kayla’s rage dissolved into trepidation. “And to think you believed you could win back the king’s approval by saving your people. Oh, wait! You can’t save your people. You can’t redeem yourself, because you bear the darkest ring in the history of Rarogan. You’ll never leave this planet, and I intend to surround your every last memory with the shame and desolation you brought on your people.”

A pained gasp slipped past Kayla’s lips, and she tried to writhe away. Lucius laughed and held the pressure on her neck. More blood trickled down her neck, and tears burned in her eyes.

“Recognize this blade, don’t you?” Lucius said. “Indeed, it is the very same blade I scarred you with when you betrayed the prince. You had the life of a royal noble, and you turned it down for me. I never loved you, dear. I just needed your help in claiming my rightful title on the throne of Nev. King of the galaxy.”

A sob bursts its way through the mounting pain on her throat. “Please… don’t…”

Without mercy, Lucius drove the blade and plunged it deep into Kayla’s sternum. Sharp anguish pierced her heart, and Kayla gave a startled cry. Her chest felt tight, and she could sense the blood leaking out of her heart. With a wicked smile, Lucius jerked the blade, and the tip broke off inside her heart.

Kayla could not hide the intense agony coursing through her veins. She curled up, hand clutching her bleeding chest. Her breath vibrating up her trachea in ragged gasps. The pain formed a passionate spiral inside her heart, and it slowly spread through the rest of her body. She’d felt a glimpse of this pain before, but only superficial. Never had the pain swallowed her whole like it did now.

Lucius vanished away into the darkness. “Sleep tight.”

Now, Kayla was really alone. She shivered on the cold stone floor, gasping for every breath. Tugging on her hair as the tortuous metal shard spread its poison throughout her system. Like he’d promised, memories of Kayla’s life on Nev soared around her in mockery.

She was picking berries in her father’s field. Harvest time was almost over. Rumor had it Prince Salus was seeking a bride, and the king was walking among her people, waiting to select one girl in particular. A deep, majestic voice had called her name, and she turned. There was the king, standing outside of his carriage. Offering his hand. Choosing her to court Prince Salus. She’d graciously accepted the honor.

As the weeks flew by, she never actually saw Prince Salus. Customs were they weren’t allowed to see each other until they mutually vowed to remain true to each other. It built a relationship based on character and not appearance. Until they were betrothed. But they did have many an intimate conversation through the listening wall long into the wee hours of the morning. Memories she had stowed away until she’d nearly forgotten. Prince Salus seemed to step deep into the desires and fears of her heart in a way no one else had, leaving her comforted and cared for. Somehow though, she always felt out of place amongst the lavish furnishings of the palace. Although the princess of her people, she had never experienced this much wealth before, and she was always self-conscious about her common mannerisms. One day, the prince pledged his faithfulness to her and asked her what she wanted. In an heartbeat, she felt her heart soar, and she pledged hers back to him. She could see Prince Salus face to face in seven days.

Kayla’s heart ached emotionally as well as physically, desperately yearning for those blissful times. She knelt her forehead to the stone floor and wept, futilely attempting to block out the memories.

The next day day, the captain of the royal guard had approached her. Assured her he could provide her wealth and etiquette lessons. He could make her eligible to go beyond courting the prince into royalty. His lies about the king and the prince sounded so appealing she let herself be led into another relationship. Soon, those conversations with the prince morphed into quiet nights with the captain, and she felt her heart finally being seen and understood. She told her people about everything, and they believed her. Too late had she realized as she lay in the captain’s quarters she’d broken her vow and thereby the single most important law in the galaxy. Lucius had sensed her qualms and slashed across her collar with his twisted blade, leaving a permanent telltale scar of her unfaithfulness and rebellion. Instantly, all the captain’s lies about the king he’d told her for so long were forever ingrained in her memory.

Kayla grasped her head, fingernails gouging her scalp, screaming and crying in agonizing pain. “Make it stop!! Please make it stop!!”

But the memories flooded on incessantly. The prince called for Kayla at the listening wall one day, but she was too ashamed to show up. The prince grew concerned about his bride-to-be, and notified the king. The king appeared to Kayla herself, and the look of disappointment and sadness on the king’s face forever remains etched in her memory. She could not hide the truth from him, even if she wanted to. In his justice, he banished both the captain and Kayla from the Upper Realm, and much to Kayla’s chagrin, her people as well.

Gone were the days of blissful peace and lavish wonder, and here Kayla lay dying on the cold stone floor. Bitter tears mingled with the blood on her neck as she unleashed all her emotions in heart-wrenching sobs. How could she truly believe she could redeem herself by saving her people? She was the sole reason they were exiled. She had failed her brother. She had failed her people. She had failed herself. She had failed the king. But most disheartening of all, she had failed her prince. The one she swore herself to. And he’d let her be banished into exile. Her one source of comfort was truly gone.