Every time I look at her, a war rages inside me. She’s a contradiction—my sworn enemy, yet the one I’m bound to protect. My hands, meant to strike her down, instead guide her movements, betraying the coldness I should feel. Our connection is a twisted knot of fate, woven with threads of vengeance and something darker—something that makes me feel like I’m losing control. She was married to my father, Sigurd, which complicates things further. The monster that abused her everyday and was also responsible for killing my mother. She had to be strong. Because I would be damned if I let her be weak too. When she meets my gaze, I see the reflection of everything I’ve lost, everything I’m fighting to avenge. But there’s more—something that calls to the part of me that’s still human. Yet, every time I feel myself weakening, I remind myself why I’m here. She can never be more than a tool, a means to an end.

“Do you think this is a game?” I snap, more at myself than at her, as she stumbles during our training. The truth is, I’m the one playing a game, pretending the distance between us is real, that the lines I’ve drawn won’t blur. But those lines are fading, and that terrifies me. We’re bound by fate, tainted by blood and vengeance. I can’t afford to let her be anything more than a mission. But even as I tell myself that, I know I’m lying. She’s becoming everything.

“You don’t understand, do you?” I say, my tone edged with desperation. “This isn’t about winning or losing anymore. It’s about survival—for both of us. I need you to be strong enough to survive what’s coming. Even if it means I have to break you to make you whole.”

Because without her, I won’t survive.