Between Bruises & Blooms

Lara was raised
to destroy him.

That was the problem.

Before she knew
his laugh,

his hands,

the way he loved
his people,

she already knew
where to place
the knife.

Aren was never
supposed
to become human.

He was a king.

An enemy.

A target
wearing a crown.

She was supposed
to marry him,

study his kingdom,

find every weakness

and hand them
to the man
who taught her
what hatred
was supposed
to look like.

Simple.

Except Aren
was not
the monster
she had been promised.

And Ithicana
was not
the enemy
she had been raised
to despise.

So somewhere
between spying
and surviving,

she fell in love.

Too late.

That is
the tragedy.

Not that
she betrayed him
after loving him.

That would almost
be easier.

She betrayed him

before she understood
she loved him.

Set the fire

before realizing

this was the home
she wanted
to stay inside.

And by the time
she knew the truth,

the message
was already gone.

The blade
was already falling.

The kingdom
was already bleeding.

Sometimes
regret
is not wishing
you had chosen
differently.

Sometimes

you did choose
differently—

you just realized it

one moment
too late.