Lycan's Affection
True Love's Sacrifice

Brandon felt his eyes mist up immediately, his chest heaving. "Healer, there has to be another way. Eleanor is..."

"What about her? Does she not love him enough to place his life before hers?"

He closed his eyes. "I do not know about that, but first of all, Eleanor's mate bond to His Highness has been severed and..."

"His bond to her still remains. That is all we need."

Brandon swallowed. "It will be fruitless. Bringing His Highness back to life by sacrificing Eleanor is just a tragedy waiting to happen."

She raised a brow, her eyes scanning him.

"Why?"

Brandon sucked in his lips, his chest heaving. "Please, please think of something else. I beg of you. If this is the sacrifice of a person who loves His Highness, let me do it. I can take annything for His Highness. I love His Highness and..."

She gave a small sigh. "Would you rather watch the king die than attempt to save him regardless of who will be sacrificed in the process? Do you think if just anyone could take that sacrifice, I would directly go for the Queen?"

Brandon went quiet, his mind knowing it was a dead end. Conaan will not survive Eleanor's death. He barely survived her leaving. He barely got back up again.

"You Highness?"

Conaan opened his eyes, then slowly closed them back. "Mhm?"

He heard the shuffle of the sheets as Eleanor turned, so she was facing him, carefully placing her injured hand away, and simply ignoring the bruised side.

"How did you know where we were?"

His brows furrowed a bit. "You mean, earlier?"

She nodded. "It felt like you came just in time. And well, it was fast and we never told you where we were going."

He moved a little, but said nothing as he seemed to think about it.

"I...can feel how far you are from me by the speed of my heartbeat."

She raised a brow, chuckling a little. "You are cheesy, Your Highness. What if I go so far you can not feel me?"

"Then, I shall cease to exist."

She swallowed. His eyes were closed, but she felt the slight pressure he added on her fingers, the way his breaths slowed.

"Look at me when you say that."

He sighed, then slowly opened his eyes, meeting hers. It was the ethereal mixture of ocean greens and sky blues, of hearts beating in perfect sync.

"I shall cease to exist without you, Eleanor. So even in the moments when you want to believe what you are doing is right, as long as it takes you away from me, do not do it."

She swallowed. "Even when it is for you? I mean, to protect you?"

He seemed to think about it. "Imagine, Eleanor that you are protecting something by ripping it in two."

"Conaan..."

"I love the way you say my name. I fall in love with every breath that you take. If anything happens to you, if you leave Eleanor, then everything perfect, heavenly or divine shall be gone with you. Including I."

She sucked in her bottom lip, her face slowly moving to his. "It does feel like I missed out on this for far too long."

"I could want you twice as much."

She chuckled, her eyes slowly catching the first glimmer of the sunlight. It was already another day, but everything from last night filled the room. The kisses, the tingles, the heat, the tension. There was a certain charge Conaan's presence brought to the room, a certain electricity that had everything at alert.

"I promise we have a lifetime to make up for it."

He gave a small smile as he slowly propped himself up, then left a small kiss on her forehead. She didn't hear it, and he had not intended to let her hear it. But he had walked away with the single word on his lips, the word that would crash her hopes of a life time.

"Maybe."

Brandon walked into Conaan's presence, his eyes low and dark around the edges, like he had spent the night drinking and not having any sleep at all.

"Your Highness. Good morning."

Conaan raised a brow at him. "You do not look so good."

Brandon swallowed hard, feeling tears fill up his eyes again. "Do you perhaps, know another way?"

Conaan turned to him fully, the single rose still between his fingers. He had been breaking the thorns, his fingers slightly cut and bloodied in different places.

"Know another way around what?"

Brandon closed his eyes, his fists clenching with the words he was about to say. If anyone had done it, he would have slit their throat for treason.

"The poison...in your body...the healer has offered a way."

Conaan examined him for the longest time, before he slowly went back to picking the thorns. "I do not believe you like this way."

"I do not care as long as it will heal you, Your Highness. She asked us to transfer the poison to Eleanor and have her die..."

"Brandon!"

"Your Highness, please. Please, just..at least consider it. It might..."

Conaan raised a finger, the slight nip from the thorn he had pulled a little too hard leaving out bright red blood that ran down the length of the finger. Brandon winced at the sight, wishing he could take that pain for him too.

"Would you really be looking out for me that way?"

Brandon swallowed. "Your Highness, do not let your love be so selfish that you can not see the love of others. We need you to live and...I am..."

"Do not ruin this day for me. As far as I am concerned, it is one of the very limited ones that I have."

Brandon took a step closer, his eyes filling in on Conaan's. What was he going to do if those eyes closed forever? If he no longer saw them, with the everlasting supply of emotions swirling behind them, or just none at all. Where would he ever replace the colors to paint his soul?

"Your Highness...please. I am sure Eleanor would hate it too if you were to give her all of the memories you gave all of us and then suddenly depart from us! Do you think she would like it if you suddenly dropped dead?"

"What?"

Conaan raised a single brow as Brandon froze in place, the soft voice penetrating the tension in the room. He turned slowly to the door, availing the view to Conaan whose face had turned completely stoic now, his brows drawn together, his lips pursed.

Eleanor looked between the two men, her eyes a little wide and concerned, and a slight tinge of hope flickered between them.

"Why are you associating His Highness with death?"