Months of preparation had led you, Oro, and Grim on the battlefield, here, fighting against Grim’s army of men who were twice the size of you. It was all a blur really, with men yelling and fighting, and you trying to stop everything from collapsing. Trying to stop the death of a thousand men was nearly impossible, but being the cause of a thousand men’s death was more possible.

Your memory served you well, reminding you of how you killed thousands of people for the sake of Grim, yet to this day, it didn’t make sense as to why someone like you, the ruler of the Wilding realm with powers to control nature, of all things, could kill thousands in the blink of an eye. How a Wilding could use Nightshade powers that only the ruler of Nightshade could have.

The only way a ruler from one realm could use the powers of another ruler was if love, if marriage bound them. You could access Grim’s powers, and based off what the realms allowed, that meant you were his wife. His beloved. His true love that he wouldn’t ever let go to. That also meant that if you died, he died. If he died, you died. Once two powers were bound, so were their hearts. Their lives.

Grim had been wrapping you in shadows to prevent any of his men from injuring you. Despite being at war with you and the other realms, he didn’t want your hurt. He couldn’t have you hurt. But he was hurt because you had been ignoring him, avoiding him, and now here you were, in the middle of all this, the cause of this war, and he had you right where he wanted you. Safe, but trapped in the chaos he ensued. You couldn’t leave unless it was with him, couldn’t leave with Oro, who loved you dearly, but you couldn’t reciprocate your feelings because your heart was already bound.

He watched you, terrified of everything happening around you. Terrified of people being near you because you were a danger to others. Grim was right there, protecting you from every man while fighting off every man. He watched as Oro tried to reach you, and that was his breaking point. “Let go of my wife!” he yelled across the chaos. That’s why you could take his power, and he would always let you. He wanted you back with him in the Nightshade realm where you were meant to be. That’s the only way he would cease the war, stop from creating total destruction everywhere.