Choices in the Dark
The mountain air was thick with the scent of damp earth and pine, the moonlight slicing through the trees like scattered blades. Each step I took away from the palace seemed to carve a deeper wound in my soul—freedom tasted bittersweet, laced with the unshakable dread of what lay ahead.
Then—a rustle of leaves.
I spun, hand flying to the dagger at my waist, only to freeze when the shadow resolved into a familiar silhouette.
Mo Xuanli.
His presence was both a balm and a brand, stirring memories I'd tried to bury. That night in the hidden passage. The way his breath had warmed my skin before he pulled away.
"You," I breathed.
He stepped into the light, his robes blending with the night, eyes darker than the abyss between stars. "Did you truly think I'd let you face this alone?"
The words unraveled something tight in my chest.
Before I could respond, a figure crashed through the underbrush—a palace scout, his face slick with sweat. "My lady! The Crown Prince has ordered your immediate return! The entire imperial guard is mobilizing—"
Xuanli's hand closed around my wrist, his grip firm yet strangely tender. "Come with me," he murmured. "There are paths even the Son of Heaven cannot follow."
The choice loomed before me like a split in the world:
Return to gilded chains.
Or step into the unknown with a man who'd always been both my shadow and my light.
Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled—or perhaps it was the wind. I thought of the Prince's last words to me, hissed like a curse:
"Run all you want. My reach is infinite."
But as Xuanli's fingers intertwined with mine, I realized the truth:
The darkest paths are always walked by two.
And so we vanished into the trees—
Two rebels against fate,
One heartbeat pounding between us,
The future writhing in the dark like a living thing.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pncsjDSS5
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