My Lover Cheated, I Read Our Fate

Chapter 7

Theron spoke in a calm, even tone, as though the words meant nothing at all, yet in truth, he was telling her plainly. She owed him her life, and now it was time to repay that debt.

Avelisse felt as though her heart had been pierced clean through. The pain was sharp and bleeding. She felt herself tremble from head to foot, unable to speak a single word.

Silence filled the room.

After a long while, Theron softened his voice and spoke gently to her. "Avelisse, all you need to do is help the child be born. That is all. I remember every vow I ever swore to you. We shall return to how things were. I shall love you and care for you, just as I always have, he spoke on, making promise after promise.

But Avelisse could not help thinking, could they truly ever go back? She could still see him that morning, supporting Maerith so carefully, his touch so gentle, his gaze so full of care—and she could not help but think that she didn't remember the last time he had looked at her that way.

She longed to ask him, was all that tenderness truly only for the child?

"Avelisse, trust me one more time. I love only you. You know that. His words were earnest and sincere.

Avelisse looked at him. His face was as handsome as ever. The love in his eyes seemed unchanged. For a moment she clung to him, as one drowning clings to driftwood.

She replied, "To help this child be born is to go against the very order of fate. Do you understand what it might cost me? My life itself could be shortened."

"It will not," Theron said otherwise calmly before taking her hand in his. "I remember what you told me once. The headmistress read your fate. She said you would live a long, full life."

Avelisse drew back, the sheets beneath her hands crumpled tight. "You know as well as I do, fate is not so simple. The stars shift. Many have been promised a long life, only to leave this world far too soon. The cards are not always certain, Theron."

"But the headmistress was never wrong!" Impatience showed plainly in his voice.

Avelisse looked at him, her heart aching. "And so you are certain I shall live long enough?"

Theron paused, then drew her close once more. "Avelisse, you have always been kind. You have always been blessed. All my house rose to greatness because you walked beside me. You will come to no harm." He kissed the top of her head gently. "And years from now, we shall grow old together. Watching our children grow."

The future he painted sounded beautiful.

Yet in Avelisse's mind, those words rang over and over, she owed him her life. And this was repayment.

She lowered her gaze and hid all that she felt. "I understand. I shall find a way."

Joy lit his face, bright and unmistakable. "That is all I ask. Only seven months. After that, my mother shall never ask you to take medicine or suffer such things again."

Avelisse heard none of it. She pulled away gently. "I am tired. I would like to rest."

Theron suspected nothing. He said "of course" twice, tucked the covers close to her, and turned to leave.

She listened to his footsteps fade. And slowly, the light in her eyes died away, leaving nothing but stillness.

She rested only a short while before rising, exhausted and unwell, and made her way to the great library. There, every book and scroll the school had gathered since its founding were kept. She hoped to find some way, any way, to save the child without giving her own life. But page after page, scroll after scroll, she read through the entire night. And she found no other way.

Only one path remained.

She walked out of the library at dawn, broken and pale. She wished to ask Caedryn if any other way existed, only to learn he had left the mountain on business and would not return for a fortnight.

Avelisse walked back to the hall. She looked up at the statue of the First Seeress, the one she had known since childhood, the one who had appeared even in her dreams.

She knelt reverently and bowed her head. "Great Seeress, show me a way to survive this." Then she reached out and cast the cards. One fell to the floor.

She picked it up and read the reading carefully. The answer was written plainly.

Refuse.

Only if she refused to save the child would she herself live.

Avelisse stared at the card for a long time. Finally, she made her choice,and with a heavy heart, she went to find Theron in the side chamber.

"I have searched for every book," she told him. "There is no other way. I cannot do this."

Theron's face turned dark.

He stepped forward and pushed her roughly. Since Avelisse was already weak, she stumbled backward, and struck her lower back hard against the sharp edge of the stone table behind her.

Pain shot through her, sharp and blinding. She looked up at him, eyes wide with disbelief.

He stood still, his throat working as he struggled to find words. From his expression alone, it seemed that he had not meant it.

"It was an accident," he explained immediately. "You know how much this child means to my mother. I... I had no other choice."

Avelisse bore the pain and spoke slowly, every word clear. "And that is why you struck me?"

Theron frowned, his face hard and cold. "I did not strike you! Why have you become so frail, so quick to complain? Why must you make everything so difficult?"

"Frail and difficult?" she echoed in disbelief.

Once, he had cherished her so deeply he would never have spoken a harsh word to her. Now he spoke to her like this, sharp, cruel, and accusing.

Avelisse gave a bitter, hollow smile. "And so, that is what I am to you now?"

"Is it not?" Theron replied coldly. "You are cold and hard. You would let an innocent child die when you could save it."

Those words struck her like a blow.

She gripped her hands tight until they ached, and cried out, "So you would have me trade my life for that child? Is that what you truly want?"

"Yes."