And then, just as slowly, with a sense of extreme resignation, he walked to where the pistol had fallen in the brush and bent to pick it up.
Her heart caught in her throat. She could not believe that he would do this.He loves me. Surely, he knows that? Surely this is not how it ends…“Alaric…” she said again. “Please…”
Holding the pistol, unable to look at her, Alaric sighed and shook his head. “I have no choice, Clara. This is the only way.”
She gasped as Alaric turned and aimed the pistol. Only, not at her, as she had worried. Rather, he turned it on his uncle, who had just now climbed to his feet.
“What are you doing?” his uncle asked.
Alaric’s arm was straight, but it shook violently. “You were going to kill her,” he snarled at his uncle. “And for what? To protect our family’s name? Is honor that important to you?”
“It is everything!” Lord Wolfe snarled. “Do not pretend you do not know this – your father! He knew it too. If he was here instead of me, he would do the same!”
Alaric shook his head. “I don’t… I do not care about what my father might do. Not anymore.”
Lord Wolfe’s eyes widened with anger. “You are a disgrace, Alaric. A burden!”
“Perhaps…” He cocked the gun. “And once, that might have broken me. My entire life…” His body was shaking as he aimed the pistol. “All I have ever done is what I thought my father would want of me. And the one time I dared to stray…” His chin began to wobble. “I am through with doing what is expected. What you deem asright.”
“No…” Lord Wolfe seemed to realize then that there would be no changing Alaric’s mind. His eyes were wide still, but now with fear, and he took a step back. “Alaric, please. There is no need to do this…”
“I know it,” he said, his voice cold.
“Do you want this on your conscience!” Lord Wolfe cried. “First your wife, next your father, and now me! Can you live with that?”
Alaric exhaled, and his expression became one of resignation; shame haunted his eyes, but a sense of shame he had long since learned to live with. “When I see you on the other side, I will be sure to let you know…”
Clara watched the scene play out in a state of disbelief.
The world seemed to slow down as she looked from Alaric, the gun, and Lord Wolfe. Any second now, the gun would fire, he would die, and then…And then what?
She could not let her husband become a murderer. She could not find safety while Lord Wolf still lived. But through the contradiction, there was one truth that she found and then focused on, letting it guide her through this moment.
None of this would be happening if Alaric did not care for her. That was what mattered most. He had come here to rescue her. He was willing to shoot his uncle dead to keep her safe. He was willing to risk everything for their marriage and their future.He does care for me. Despite it all, what I have been told, what I may or may not know, that is the truth, and this right here proves it.
And when she realized this truth, when she accepted it, and when she understood that she felt the same, she knew what she had to do.
“Wait!” she cried out. “Alaric, wait.”
Alaric did not lower the gun, but he looked to her, brow furrowed. “What… wait for what?”
“Don’t do it…” She started carefully toward him, one hand reaching out and resting on his gun arm. “He is not worth it.”
“He was going to kill you, Clara.”
“I know.”
“He still might.”
“Maybe…” Gently, she pushed his arm down, and he let her. “I do not know all of what happened with your wife or your father. But I do know that you are no killer, Alaric. You might think you are. You might believe it as much as you believe anything. But you are not a killer any more than you are a monster.”
“I… am…”
“No…” She smiled for him, forcing him to look at her. “That is one thing I can say for certain. If you do this, then I am a liar. If you do this, then you are not the man who… who…” She hesitated, the words catching on her tongue.Say it. You need to say it…“If you do kill him, if you prove your uncle correct, then you are not the man whom I love,” she said gently, her smile remaining on her lips. “And I do love you, Alaric. Just as I know you love me.”
She held her breath in wait. Her heart thudded so loudly she could hear it. Her body was shaking as if it might explode. And as she waited, she searched her husband’s eyes for the truth… the battle he was willing to lose to give in to his true self.
His stare was fixed on Lord Wolfe. Hardened. Deadly. The desire there to see him dead and be done with it. But slowly, it softened, his arm relaxed entirely, and he looked away with disgust.
