SWNOVELXO Chapter 12: Chapter 12 – The Conversation
Elara sat on the cracked stone bench, the silence of the garden pressing in from every side. There were no birds in this part of the palace, no flowers. Only the distant hum of wind across old vines and the steady sound of her own breath.
Kaelith stood a few feet away, arms folded, eyes on her-but not with suspicion. With something quieter. Something uncertain.
"Tell me," he said again. "From the beginning."
Elara looked up at him, and for a moment she wasn't a stranger. Not to him. Not to herself. She was someone who had waited across lifetimes to say this out loud.
She didn't rush it.
"I've died in every lifetime," she said quietly. "But it's never stayed permanent. I always wake up somewhere else. A different year, a different city, a different version of this world. But one thing is always the same-you're there."
Kaelith's brow furrowed, but he didn't interrupt.
"You don't remember me. Not really. Sometimes you get dreams. Visions. A feeling. But the memories… they don't stay. And eventually, no matter how different the lifetime-one of us always dies before we get to fix it."
Kaelith stepped closer. "What is it?"
Elara met his eyes. "The curse."
He didn't scoff. He didn't walk away. He sat beside her-leaving only a narrow breath of space between them-and turned slightly, so he could see her face.
"I don't believe in curses," he said.
"I didn't either," she replied. "Until I realized I had lived through seven of them."
Kaelith's voice was quiet, but serious. "And you think this curse... ties us together?"
"I know it does."
"Who placed it?"
Elara hesitated.
"I did," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "But not out of anger. Out of grief."
He blinked. "You cursed both of us?"
"Yes."
Kaelith leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Why?"
Her gaze dropped to the broken stone beneath their feet. "Because you died. In the first life. And it was my fault."
For a long time, neither of them spoke.
Then Kaelith said, "I don't remember dying."
"You wouldn't," she murmured. "Each time you return, the slate is wiped clean. Your soul remembers me, but your mind doesn't. I remember everything. Every detail. Every moment you told me you'd never forget."
He looked at her, expression unreadable. "So… this is my punishment?"
Elara's throat tightened. "No. It was supposed to be a wish."
His eyes narrowed. "A wish?"
"I begged the gods not to take you from me. I made a vow under blood and moon and fire. I said if they returned you to me… I'd bind my soul to yours across all lifetimes. But I was desperate. I didn't read the cost. And they granted the vow like a curse."
Kaelith stood abruptly, turning away. "And now we're stuck in this loop."
"Yes."
"Why come back? Why not let it go?"
"Because I can't undo it alone."
He turned back to her. "What do you want from me?"
Elara stood too now. "I want you to remember. Just once. Fully. Your choice. Your pain. Your love. Not the dreams. Not the fragments. The truth. And then… maybe we can end it."
Kaelith shook his head slowly, still trying to fit the pieces together. "You think I can just… remember another life?"
"I don't know," she said honestly. "But I think if you spend enough time with me, your soul might start pushing things forward."
Kaelith looked at her in silence.
Not cold. Not distant.
Just… overwhelmed.
And then he said something she hadn't expected.
"Tell me about the first time."
Elara blinked. "What?"
"The first time we met. The first version of us."
She hesitated… then smiled sadly. "It was in a city called Serros. You were a prince there too. Arrogant. Loud. But kind beneath it. I was a scribe in the royal temple. You kept pretending to come for books."
Kaelith chuckled once. "That sounds believable."
"You used to bring me tea," she said, her voice softening. "But you didn't like the taste. You just wanted an excuse to sit across from me."
He looked at her. "And I fell in love with you?"
"No," she said gently. "You told me you already were. From the moment you saw me."
Kaelith swallowed hard.
Something flickered in his eyes. Not a memory, but the ache of almost-memory. Like something pressing at the edge of his mind, knocking, not quite ready to enter.
He took a deep breath. "Alright."
Elara tilted her head. "Alright?"
He nodded. "Stay."
"Here?"
"No," he said. "In the palace. There are too many questions I don't have answers to. And I think you're the only person who's not afraid to give them."
A pause.
"Also…" he added. "Something tells me if I lose sight of you again, I'll never find you."
Elara said nothing.
But her eyes said enough.