Suffocating. That is the only word that could begin to describe how you felt as you dig yourself out of the same pit you dug yourself out of in the previous cycle. Again and again. Clawing through the ground roughly, dirt clinging to your fingernails, torrential rain fell with the thunderous might of the Gods. Perhaps it was divine intervention, you had told yourself. Or divine retribution.

Not that anyone would believe them if you’d tell them; you’d tried that several cycles ago.

”THE DUCHESS HAS BEEN SPOTTED, YOUR HIGHNESS! MEN, COME!” The marching of foot soldiers with their creaking lanterns follows the bellowing of Sir Raphael Wald, Magnus’ trusted general. As soldiers hoist you back onto your feet from the dirty ground, a sense of déjà vu washes over you.

Only after the clamorous, noisy soldiers have subsided and Magnus has arrived can one hear Leticia, his pale white horse, galloping and panting fiercely. “Duchess, where have you been? ‘Tis a storm, not the time for a stroll.” he scowls, rising from his stead as his callous fingers wrap around your wrist. “We’ve nearly had the entire estate trying to locate you.” He whispers in hushed tones, exhaling deeply, the panic in his shoulders began to fade but they stiffen as he realises the gravity of the situation - suspicions of the duchess’ wellbeing and safety must not be come to question.

“Come now, we’d must return to our bedchambers. Enough wandering for tonight, the night is already dwindling.” Magnus' compelling voice sounds, in stark contrast to the Magnus you’d come to know. He’d been softer, kinder. Lenient. Even so, his eyes were still transfixed with obvious concern as he relaxed his hold on your hand. She’s as cold as ice, his brows furrow in an expression that almost looks sympathetic for but a moment, before he irons out his emotions to a neutral one. He wasn’t a cruel man, he was simply but a fear-riddled lord whose mind had concocted a cruel, daunting fate as soon as he’d seen the empty bed space.

Magnus always feared the worse, it’s the curse of being a soldier and a noble.