The sounds of their swords clashing echoed through the rocks and caves. They were evenly matched, and both fought with equal purpose. Their fight wasn’t long, but it was skilled and masterful. The Black Knight only gave one opening, and, though caused by brief distraction, Ermingild took it to pierce the Knight’s heart.

A tear rolled down Chaise’s face and he didn’t bother to wipe it away. Nadia tried not to notice; she had never been good with tears.

“If only I had not been so consumed with anger and hatred. If only I had not taken the split opportunity in which your focus was divided. I might not have killed you.”

Nadia thought back to their battle; the intensity in the air. It was the most invigorated she had felt in years. She was fighting for Perdita’s future, or so she had thought. Their battle was at the climax when Perdita announced that it had been finished. She looked towards the two, fighting close by. There was only one thing to say to her companion of ten years.

“Goodbye.”

Constantine’s heart fell; what had Perdita meant by that? Nothing else mattered, and all it took was a split second for her to forget she was crossing swords with another master.

“It was painful at first.” Nadia nodded her head, “But not as painful as the word that preceded it.” She wanted to reach out to Chaise; she wanted to reassure him. It wasn’t his fault. But the words didn’t come.

They were there. It felt like they had come home. Nadia looked towards the sky; dusk was approaching quickly. By the time they reached the top, it would be night.

Nadia and Chaise came into the clearing. Time had not aged this forgotten place any more than it had all those years before. Mara was standing on the rocks above; it was a very precarious perch.

“So, you’ve both come.”

Nadia smiled. “Perdita, it’s me. I mean, I remember now.”

“Please don’t call me by that name. I always hated that name. Besides, we all have different names in this time.”

Nadia shifted her gaze, this was not the reunion she had imagined. When had Mara become so dark?

“I’ve been waiting for you to come for a long time.” Mara slipped closer to the edge. “I knew you’d come as soon as Chaise called about your memories coming back. I’ve been thinking about this moment, but only one thing has held me back. You needed to remember so you could have closure. It was the least I could do for you after what happened before.” Mara looked to the darkness before her. “But you made me wait so long, I just wanted you to remember sooner.”

Nadia stopped her overwhelming need to rush to her side. She could never reach her in time.

“I guess you wouldn’t remember because you were passed out from losing so much blood. I wanted everything to end. I hated everything of that life, so I found magic in the books you stole for me that would take my soul to another time and have it be reborn. That’s what I was doing while you were fighting Ermingild. Did you really think it was a spell of ‘good fortune’? That I would cast it and we’d go riding off into a new land and start a new life? I was preparing the spell that would let me escape the only way I knew how. To die in my time and be reborn in another.

“But when you fell, Ermingild grieved. He had no idea that you, my Royal Guard, were also the Black Knight. Apparently he cared deeply for you. He jumped into the inner circle at the last moment, carrying you in his arms. After you fell, I told him of my plans, since he couldn’t have done anything to stop it. He was sent to prevent the forbidden book’s use, but had a change of heart once he realized you were not long for that world.”

Nadia lowered her head. “But why?”

Mara continued to stare into the darkness. “I was betrayed by everyone who was supposed to love me. My parents only saw me as a political pawn, my siblings only wanted me out of the way of the throne, my other relations only wanted me for my position. I could never be who I wanted to be. I was the ‘good’ princess who did everything right and had no faults. My life was hell and I hated it… and you. You, who lived so nobly, and perfectly content with your sad situation in life. Always by my side, trying to protect me from great evils, playing the knight in shining armor. You made me sick! I could never understand how you were so happy to live! What is it about you that makes you able to love life so wholeheartedly?

They stood motionless, and as Nadia was about to respond, Mara put up her hand to silence her.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I tried. I really tried. This life was just as horrible as the last. I’m cursed to grow up in utterly depressing situations with cursed family ties and bonds. I want no more of it! I want to be free!”

“Then do it again.” Mara sharply glanced at her, but Nadia continued before she could speak, “Whatever you did before to bring us here and now, do it again.”

Mara scoffed at the suggestion. “The next life would be just like before. I’ll be forced to watch everyone around me live fulfilling lives while I have nothing but misery.”

Nadia’s demeanor changed slightly, anger inside of her rekindled at Mara’s self loathing.

“You think I’ve had the perfect conditions in life? There are things that I have never shared with anyone about my life. I was sold into your kingdom’s servitude at three. I no longer had parents, I was property to a throne and was trained to live and die by the sword. Sometimes the only thing I had to be thankful for was surviving a day with no broken bones. Eventually, I learned to accept that that was my life and I needed to make the best of it. It was a way of life I became grateful for; there were many worse fates that could have befallen a girl of that time. My situation hadn’t changed one bit, but my mindset had. The older I got the more I understood the importance of what I was training to do; to protect something, someone far greater than myself. Me, an abandoned peasant, who had nothing to her name, could become someone who protected a princess. To protect you was to protect the kingdom. It was the noblest possibility for a soldier like myself, and I looked to it to give me comfort.”

Nadia calmed herself before she took things too far. She breathed heavily to release whatever frustrations were driving her words.

“Stop hating yourself, stop hating your existence.”

Mara was silent for a while, and then dejectedly shook her head. “What does it matter? There are no redeeming qualities in my life.”

“I became your Black Knight because I cared deeply for you. It went against everything I knew and was, but I wanted you to find peace. I think I became your friend, here, now, for similar reasons. If there is a fraction of a chance you might find a better life, please, cast that spell one more time.”

Mara shook her head.

“Please! Once more. You won’t be alone this time. I want to go with you. Not as your Royal Guard or knight, but as a friend. Please, let’s go together.”

Mara looked to Nadia, her companion and friend of two lifetimes. Was she a friend to her now because their bond was real, or was it a leftover sense of duty from her previous life? She didn’t owe Nadia anything, but a sense of curiosity gnawed at her. Long had she thought Nadia only befriended her in school because deep down she was still playing the knight in shining armor. Mara was never convinced that Nadia ever saw this version of her, only Perdita; even if her memories were buried in her subconscious.

But what if she had been wrong? What if their friendship had been true? She bit her lip to keep from crying and looked back into the darkness. It’s what she’d been desiring for so many years. But what if…

Mara stepped away from the edge. “I suppose, once more won’t hurt” she said out loud, but in her mind continued to herself, But if it’s not different next time, I’ll die before you realize who I am. Who I was.

Nadia and Chaise helped her down. She took a fragile stone piece and began to trace the markings from memory; where they had been burned all those years ago. They watched as she moved from one side to another, writing on the stone floor. It was fitting that they would find a second end in this place.

“And what of you, Sir Ermingild?”

His eyes lit up, but Nadia’s attentions were elsewhere and failed to notice. “It’s been a long time since anyone has called me by that name. It seems strange, but at the same time, I had always wanted to hear you say it in this lifetime.”

Nadia still had very mixed feelings. They had been on good terms in their past life, but she had no romantic feelings for him.

“You should leave. This is the end for Mara and me.”

He moved his hand to hers, attempting to hold it, but as a reflex she jerked her hand away. Sorrow filled his face.

“I would have thought the past five years together would have meant something to you, even now.”

She was hurt by his words, but still held her unwavering façade. “Forgive me. It’s just been a hard few days. I’ve felt violated, betrayed, and overwhelmingly confused all at once. And let’s not forget you killed me.”

“I didn’t know it was you!”

She smirked. “And if you had?”

“I would never have raised my sword against you. You once asked me if I understood about feelings you weren’t supposed to have towards the Princess. I… dreamt of a life together with you. I know, it was wrong of me to entertain such thoughts. But for the first time I wanted more than what I had been raised and trained to do. And I will not leave you now, not if there is a chance for us to find each other in another future.”

“What makes you think we might even be together in the next life?”

He was steadfast in his mindset. “I will take that chance.”

The spell’s final stage was complete. There was no turning back, and the three of them stood in silence as a familiar beacon of light pierced the sky. Chaise reached out and took Nadia’s hand. She smiled at him and nodded. Then she turned towards Mara. There were a few moments for last words.

“There has to be something, one thing you are grateful for. Just one.”

Mara slowly shook her head back and forth, almost in denial of anything positive in her life. Then tears began to drop to the ground.

“I’m drowning and I’m consumed, but in the end, I think I am grateful for your loyalty. We are about to die for a second time, and you’re here to share it with me. You could leave and be happy with Chaise, but that was never a thought in your mind, was it? I don’t know of anyone else who has ever considered my happiness like you have.”

Nadia embraced Mara tightly. They had been friends for a long time, but they were never as close as they were in this moment.

Nadia closed her eyes as the light got brighter and began to consume them. “You are loved, remember that. Believe that.”

Mara was sobbing. “I’ll try.”

Chaise tightly held Nadia’s hand and moved closer to her as the light flashed, consuming them all.

Constantine turned in bed. The stray streams of light peeking through her drapes reassured her that morning had come. Her eyes opened slowly to a room both familiar and new. She took a deep breath and smiled. Her past lives had come full circle. She turned over to wake her husband by stroking his brow. His hand eventually made it up to hers as he gently moved it to his mouth and kissed it.

“Sir Ermingild.” She all-knowingly smirked as he quickly shifted at hearing his old name.

“You’ve remembered again?”

She nodded her head. “Why am I always the last to remember? I can see why Perdita would, since she cast the spell, but how is it that you’ve remembered so quickly and I have not?”

Ermingild smiled. “I just knew that I had to find you before you found someone else.”

Constantine laughed. “You lucked out both times. Are you happy in this life?” She was still smiling, but very serious.

He shifted his position to be level with hers and there was true sincerity in his eyes.

“From the moment I met you, I knew that I could never love anyone else. I may have failed my mission to stop the Princess’s magic, but I had found a new dream. I count my blessings that you were able to love me as I love you. I could die today the happiest man alive.”

Constantine put her hand to his mouth. “Let’s not talk about death. We’ve experienced enough. But this time… this time we all found happiness. Perdita is happily married, has beautiful children. We’re close. How did things turn out differently this time? What changed?”

Ermingild had much time to think about this answer. “We did. I think our next lives were already determined by what our last thoughts were before we died. Both times, I could only think of my love for you, which is why, I think, I was able to regain my memories quickly and find you. And the Princess, her thoughts were of despair and hopelessness, so she was reborn into it again. And you? What were your last thoughts about the first time?”

Constantine sighed as she tried to organize her memories, “I could only think of protecting her, even from herself. I just needed to keep her safe. I guess… that makes sense. When we met in middle school, I immediately felt protectiveness for her and attached myself to her. I suppose I assumed it was because it was in my nature.”

“And the second time?”

“The second time, I still felt protective, but it was different. I wanted to be a friend to her. I wanted her to trust me, to not hate me. And…” she trailed off.

“And what?”

“Then there was you. I liked you, but she still came first. I told myself it was okay to love you if we met in our next life.”

Ermingild gently pulled her closer to him and whispered something into her ear. She laughed quietly and caressed his face so she could kiss him.