The Oracle's temple stood at the edge of the capital, carved into the bones of a forgotten mountain. It was said the winds here whispered secrets to the gods and sometimes, the gods whispered back.
Elira arrived in silence, her cloak pulled tight against the wind, her guards left behind at the gates. She needed no witnesses to this visit. Not even Kael knew she'd come.
She was here for one reason.
To break the curse.
The temple was dim and hollow, lit only by flickering candles. Incense hung in the air something bitter and ancient.
The Oracle waited in the center of the sanctum.
She was older than Elira expected. Her eyes, though clouded by time, seemed to see through flesh and bone. Her skin was lined with symbols inked in silver, and her voice, when she spoke, was deep as the mountain itself.
"You seek answers," she said. Not a question.
Elira stepped forward, her pulse thrumming "I seek a way to live."
The Oracle nodded once. "You were cursed by the goddess of bonds. A curse of love. A curse of legacy. A curse born from a broken vow."
Elira's breath caught, of course she knew all this. "Then it can be broken?"
Silence. Then, the Oracle leaned forward.
"You will not die for love," she whispered, "unless you choose it."
Elira frowned. "What does that mean?"
"The curse lives in choice. Not in fate."
The Oracle's eyes burned brighter now, the silver ink on her hands pulsing with light.
"If you run from love, you may live. But if you let it root, if you want it… it will burn you from within."
Elira swallowed, her throat dry. "Then I must never love."
The Oracle looked at her "Is that what you truly came here to hear?"
Elira didn't answer.
Because deep down, she hadn't come just for that
She had hoped to find a cure.
But this wasn't hope. This was a choice wrapped in torment.
"You married for duty. You now walk among knives. But the sharpest blade is not in the court… it is in your chest. Guard your heart, Elira of Elyndor."
"Or it will become your tomb."
Elira left the temple just before dusk, the wind howling behind her.
She touched her chest, her heartbeat thudding wildly.
You will not die for love… unless you choose it.
And she didn't know if she feared the curse more
Or the way a part of her already wanted to choose.