Once Betrayed Never Forgotten

Chapter 63: Severance

“That’s easy,” Seraphina says with a small smile. “I don’t even have to leave the room to conjure her up. She’s here with us now.”

“What?” Luka and I both say

y at the same time, looking around at the vast library in search of her.

“She’s been listening at the keyhole this entire time, silly!” Seraphina says, flicking a finger in the direction of the massive set of wooden doors at the library’s entrance. The doors swing open and Mircea comes tumbling forward, landing in a heap on the floor.

She takes a second to compose herself. She’s looking as pretty as ever- her high cheekbones are less sunken in than before, and her large dark brown eyes sparkle in the blue firelight. Her jet black hair is neatly braided beneath her red head scarf with blue tassels.

Her face looks younger now, more youthful and fresher, perhaps thanks to finally escaping the cursed village. Before, I’d guessed that she might be around the age of twenty three, but now I’m certain she’s closer to my own age, maybe nineteen or twenty at most.

She walks ov

over to me with a quick smile, before giving me a warm hug.

“Surry for eavesdropping. I know it’s a bad habit, but can you really blame me?” She asks. “No one tells me what the hell is going on in this creepy castle. And I had to make sure you were ok.”

ing the life out of Luka’s gigantic

“Um, how long were you watching at the door?” I ask, cringing in embarrassment at the thought of her seeing me sucking the cock earlier.

“I was in the Great Hall earlier when I saw Seraphina’s shadow flitting through the corridors,” she admits. “Then she suddenly sped up and seemed to race in this direction, as if she’d been summoned. I wanted to see what was going on. Where have you been?”

“It’s a long story!

a long story,” I say with a sigh, relieved that at least she didn’t see any of

of the sexy stuff Luka and I got up to earlier. That would be mortifying.

“I also just heard – before Seraphina brought me tumbling into the room – I heard you say you were looking for me,” she says. “Here I am, at your service. How can I help you?”

I cast a glance nervously over to Luka, and his silver gaze is unsure, questioning.

“Are you certain you want to do this?” He asks silently via our mental bund, and I nod. No going back now.

“Mircea, I need you to reverse the mate bond spell,” I say, and she freezes up, suddenly very still and tense. Her eyes go wide as she woodenly looks to Luka for his reaction.

“Relax, he already knows,” I say, but Mircea still looks wary, as if expecting Luka to leap at her and rip out her throat in anger at any moment.

“Well, can you do it?” I ask, praying that the answer is yes. “You cast the spell, so you can break it, right?”

“Of course,” Mircea says, looking warily at Luka again, still on guard. “If that’s what you both want.”

“It’s what I want,” I say, but Luka shakes his head, unable to hide his feelings.

“In that case, there will be pain, for both of you,” Mircea says, her voice solemn. “But it will hurt infinitely more for the one who is opposed to the severing, the one who is holding on and bears the brunt of the rejection.”

He tums her entire body to face Luka, and takes a few hesitant steps towards him, before seeming to think better of it.

“Luka, I know that rejections of mate bonds are a standard happening in your world, and you might think you already know all about the pain that might accompany it,” she says, her voice filled with sadness, and perhaps a little guilt. “But this isn’t any ordinary mate band. This one has been cast by magic, intentional and planned, approved by Moon Goddess after weighing both your souls and finding you to be a match. It will hurt a thousand times worse than any standard mate bond rejection, but the worst of it will be over quickly, and the initial pain will be fleeting.”

Then she turns her attention to me.

“Arianna, you will feel the pain of the breaking bond as well, but not as deeply, if you are the one choosing to set your mate free,” she says.

“That’s not fair,” I murmur, feeling angry at myself and wishing there was another way. “I’m the one choosing to end things. I should shoulder all the pain and carry the burden of it. Int there a way, Mircea?”

Chapter 63: Severance

She just nods her head sadly, and I lean back against the piano, dejected and overcome with raging guilt.

“It’s ok, Arianna,” Luka says softly. “I know you’re not ready to be mated to me. And Mircea – don’t feel bad for casting the spell. You did what you had to do, to get Arianna out of that prison cell. I’m grateful to you. No hard feelings, seriously.”

“Thanks,” Mircea murmurs, her eyes filling with tears as she smiles shyly at Luka

“Let’s just get it over and done with, I guess,” Luka says, smiling with a false sense of bravado, surely dreading what’s about to happen. “What do we need to do?”

“You don’t need to do anything,” Mircea says, reaching up into the sleeve of her blue velvet robes. She produces a small silver silken pouch. From it, she withdraws a strange metallic loop, about the size of a child’s bracelet, gleaming brightly in the firelight Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

No, that’s not a bracelet…

It takes me a moment to recognise that these are strands of silver and golden blonde hair, locks of my hair and Luka’s, woven together into a tight, thick braid. The ends have been joined to form a perfect unbroken circle, the symbol of our mate bond, our unity.

“Moonlight and sunlight woven together,” Seraphina gasps, coming in for a closer look. “Night and day. How pretty. It’s a pity to destroy such a wondrous thing.”

But destroy it we must, if we are to sever the bond,” Mircea says solemnly.

Then she withdraws a gleaming silver dagger from her other sleeve, the same one she had down in the caves. That feels like a million years ago, whole other lifetime.

“This is the last time I’ll ask you are you certain? Mircea asks, and I nod, followed by Luka a moment later. I know he doesn’t want to do this, but he’s willing to give me my freedom. For that, I’ll be eternally grateful.

“As you wish,” Mircea says. “Steady yourself and prepare for agony.”

She slips the shimmering bracelet made up of our woven hair onto the dagger’s sharp edge, holds the braided hair taut and then yanks the blade upwards in one swift movement, severing the braided strands in a fraction of a second and breaking the ring, severing the band.

And oh my god, does it ever hurt.

I immediately fall to my knees as blinding white pain scars through me, setting every nerve alight. I scream and scream and scream, my body wracked with convulsions. Through the haze of my suffering I can see Luka, also on the ground but not making a sound, his face twisted in agony as he holds back the scream that must surely be tearing through his pain wracked body. He’s shaking and breathing heavily, clutching at his chest, as though he’s having a heart attack.

The pain is unbearable, and I sway in place, not sure (and not caring) whether I’m about to pass out. Seraphina rushes over to my side with superhuman speed in a puff of black smoke, catching me a split second before I can fall forward and split my skull open on the floor. At the same time, Mircea rushes over to comfort Luka. She’s crying freely now, tears pouring down her pretty face as she holds him in her arms, trying to calm his convulsing and contorting body as she cries “I’m so sorry Luka, I’m so sorry!” over and over again. “I never meant to cause you paini”

After a few moments, the agony of the severing able to sit up again.

webbing and flowing like a tide going out, leaving a dull ache like a bruise behind, until I’m

Mircea is still holding Luka in her arms, and he’s trembling slightly and still breathing heavily but not convulsing anymore. His face is as white as a sheet, and his handsome face is covered in beads of sweat.

When he opens his eyes and looks over to me, I can feel it. I know immediately.

It’s gone. Our mate bond is completely severed and irretrievably broken, and in its place, there is only pain.

What on earth have I done?