Destin couldn’t bear to look at her like this.

    Her once shimmering blonde hair was now a matted mess of grey weeds. And her eyes, he couldn’t look into them. Her golden sunshine eyes, the eyes that he denied falling in love with, were now a pale sea of grey that grew almost white. Empty.

    “I did not want to die. Not here,” stuttered Elise, her voice still solemn. “But, this war needed to end. For the world to live.”

    Destin held her hand, her fragile bony hand that he could not longer recognize, and he clutched it close to him. “There has to be a way,” he said, voice cracking with sorrow.

    She shook her head and leaned into him.“No. My lifeforce is beyond replenishing. I am lost.”

    She said it with such acceptance it made him angry. Destin looked down the long dark throne room at the statues of the self proclaimed god-king, cursing in his mind. Elise wasn’t even from this land and she fought for his kingdom’s future. She fought for Destin’s claim to the throne, his quest to make a free and better world. The fight wasn’t worth it. Destin didn’t want the crown, the hero’s praise, the glory and riches, not even the freedom.

    He wanted the life that was leaving him.

    “How can you give up so easily! After all we’ve been through together-”

    Elise brushed Destin’s cheek and for a brief moment she smiled. It was a true smile, the one she gave him in those moments of peace that were so hard to come by. It was the one part of her that was still whole.

    Destin wept.

    “Dance with me,” said Elise, wrapping her arms around Destin’s shoulders.

    Destin looked up with blurred teary vision. He let loose a feeble smile and replied,”No music?”

    She pressed his hand against her chest and whispered,” Just listen.”

    Destin and Elise danced, him cradling her with each step. Only the sound of steps on stone and the beating of their hearts were audible. He danced to her beat and she to his.

    Thump. Right. Thump. Left. Thump. Spin.

    Sunshine began to pour in from the windows on either side of the room as the dark clouds outside dispersing. Tears streamed down Destin’s face, enveloping his vision, Elise, in sparkles and refracted light. The thumping of their hearts was like a choir and Elise was the conductor.

    Thump. Thump.

    “You are a good man, my King.”

    Silence. Destin wept. He needed an encore.

    All that remained was a sprinkling of dust and ash. Elise was gone, the dance was over.

But, as Destin turned to leave that wretched throne room, to build his new world, he swore he heard the words “I love you.”

    “Good bye, my queen,” Destin said aloud.
    “I love you.”