text: Your head hurts. Your body does too. The light blinds your eyes as you wake up. This is your bed; you are in your own room.
  
  "Thank the ancients. He made it," the voice echoes, leaving an aching ring in your head.
  
  "Oh my Robert, how is he?"
  
  You feel a delicate hand touching your own. Is it her?
  
  "Isa," you manage out barely.
  
  "Yes! Sweetie, I am home. I was so worried, I came back as soon as I heard the news!" her voice grows more animated causing a groan to escape your lips.
  
  "Sorry, please rest now my love," she continued to whisper. "I heard about the hunt. You were so brave." Her giggle fills the room.
  
  "Rest now, my valorous knight, and forget slaying any more beasts. I want you back as soon as possible."
  
  Before you can respond several footsteps leave the room. Unable to move you are left alone with nothing but your own thoughts. You were attacked, completely taken by surprise. You let your guard down and paid the price. Your mere survival is a miracle, you should be dead now.
  
  "That was a rookie mistake. I had trained you better."
  
  The voice startles you. A sharp pain flashes through your body.
  
  "Twice now," Garreth remarks drily. "Boy did she really do a number on you."
  
  "When did you enter?"
  
  "I never left your side since.. well since the hunt."
  
  The memory makes you shudder.
  
  "Those bears were unnatural, cursed. I never heard a beast so large be so silent, so cunning," you pause for a moment. "How much time has passed?"
  
  "Four days. And every day they were certain you wouldn't survive till the next."
  
  "I had to pull through." You force yourself to grin. It comes out grotesquely, like a madman's. "I couldn't die like that."
  
  "She kept you going, didn't she?" Garreth asked back. Again he went straight through your smokescreen.
  
  "...Yes."
  
  "Do you still love her?"
  
  This question makes you stop. Your mouth opens and closes again. Do you still find love for your Isabella? Your mind goes back to all the things you've experienced, to the trials and to the pleasures. She did love you, comfort you before you she struck a knife in your back. But afterwards she also came back. In the end, she had wept for you and stood guard by your side.
  
  > say "... Yes."
  It hurts your soul, but you know it to be true. It would be far too simple letting hate take over your being. You know one thing, you love that woman. You've loved her since you first laid eyes upon her and you'll continue to love her until the days those eyes close for the last time. She makes you feel alive, even if it pains you. She's still your Isa.
  
  "Yes Garreth." Even through the hurt, the words cause you to smile brightly. "I do still love her."
  
  "You are a fool, my boy," he responds chuckling. "But you have a good heart. It's something that graces you."
  
  "Why am I like this Garreth?" you ask back. "She betrayed me and she let me down. I want to hate her. I try to in hope that it makes me feel better. Still, I can do nothing but to long for her return."
  
  "Son, you have met the love of your life. Whatever you do and whatever she does changes nothing about it. I sense the thread of fate surrounding you both. Nothing shy of madness or death could break that bond." That can't be true.
  
  "Does she feel the same way I do? If so, why did she act that way?"
  
  "I think not. Everybody experiences things differently, my boy." At this moment he seems to age several decennia. "Your emotions are your own as much as her feelings are hers. The question remains, what will you do with them?"
  
  "I don't know Garreth. I want her back. But I see only the duke when I look at her. I see him on top of her. I can't deny I feel love for her but I can't forgive her for what she's done."
  
  "And that is completely justified. The truth is that you've lost each other. I don't know why and I don't know how. I don't even know where to put the blame. I only know that your bond wavered. Life caught up to your fairytale and pure happiness turned into heavy sorrow." You almost recognize a tone of remembrance. It angers you. What does he know of your sorrow?
  
  "And what would an old woodsman know of love?" you bitterly strike out.
  
  "More than you think young man. Everyone was once young and full of life," he responds warmly, ignoring the bitterness that assaulted him beneath your words. "However I think it's time for me to return to my home. Think about it boy. Think about what you want to do."
  
  With that said Garreth leaves.
  
  > Overburdened with thoughts you fall back asleep.
  That night, you dream of her, of her black locks waving across your face. You see her up close, her eyes closed in joyfull bliss. She gently waves from side to side, enjoying the sun and enjoying your company. But every time you reach out to touch her, your arms shrink and she's left out of your reach. Always just out of reach.
  
  "My dear, wake up," her gentle voice calls to you. "Wake up, it's time for you to shine another day."
  
  As you indeed rise from your deep slumber, you are met with a far less pretty sight. A hunched old healmaster stands by your bed.
  
  "Wake up, Milord. You've been laying in one place for too long. We'll have to let you walk today, or you'll face the rot that has settled this bed." Somehow you doubt that could be true. Though the dream's magic has passed. There's nothing left to do but to stand.
  
  "Well done, milord. Please don't overexert yourself."
  
  With wobbly knees, you find yourself in the middle of the room. It is a wonder considering only yesterday you were unable to even move your head. It was too much. The world turns black as your stomach lifts itself to your throat. The healmaster is no match for your heavy body. So you fall, injuring yourself and your pride, and hit rock bottom.
  
  And that's when your Isa enters the room. Why now, of all possible times..?
  
  "Robert! What happened?" she cries out and hurries to your side.
  
  "Oh it's nothing," you lie. "Nothing like a good fall to start the day." Her touch feels so good.
  
  "The fault is mine, my Lady." You'll have to later thank the good master. "I overestimated his capabilities." Nevermind, you'll have to save yourself. You can't let her see your weakness. Not now.
  
  "It.. was a slip. Help me up. I can walk."
  
  You don't wait for an answer. You ruthlessly pull yourself up by the shoulders of the old man; it serves him right.
  
  "See, as good as new. Isa, will you accompany me to the garden?" You manage to kick the protesting healmaster.
  
  "I can't let you slip all the way there, can I?" she responds to your delight.
  
  > Onwards to the park.
  The pair of you move together. You try not to lean on her too much. As much you want to pretend everything is normal, that the looks she gives you are of pure love, you can't. The chitchat, the touches, everything feels fake. In some ways it is. However, the public is not aware of these subtle underlying tones. Wherever you two walk, you leave lighthearted chuckles and optimistic smiles behind.
  
  Moving through the corridors you reach a small and secluded spot near the courtyard. It's been a favorite spot of yours, a little oasis of peace within the chaos of everyday life. Isabella helps you sit down. You feel the grass between your fingers. It helps remind you of simpler times.
  
  "I am sorry Isabella," you sigh. "That hunt was madness."
  
  "It's okay. You survived and hopefully learned a lesson out of it." She pokes you a little too hard at the end.
  
  "That hurt!" you fake with indignation. "Still, you had to suddenly leave behind everything you'd built up."
  
  "I didn't have to leave, Robert. I did it out of my own volition. You could've just as easily recovered without me, no?"
  
  "Besides," she adds playfully. "I felt out of place at the capital anyways."
  
  You close your eyes. It's extraordinarily warm weather for fall. The sun shines brightly and warms your cheeks. This was like a dream. The love of your life lies next to you. Still, something bothers you. As beautiful as this dream could be, it's not real. She cheated on you. She betrayed you and now pretends nothing has happened. You simply don't know what parts are true and what parts are lies. Every word could be a lie; some words are definitely lies. Does she still love you? Not knowing where you stand pains you greatly.
  
  > try to get the truth out of her.
  You simply can not handle the uncertainty. You have to know the truth that lies at the core of your present struggle.
  
  "Isa..." you ask, not knowing how to give words to your intentions.
  
  "Yes, Robert?
  
  You can't do it. You have to divert the question.
  
  "Why did you feel out of place at the capital?"
  
  "It's difficult to say. I thought I'd be more accepted over there." It was true she hadn't had the best time amongst your own countrymen. Her exotic features and foreign culture scared them. "But along the way, I think I lost myself. I thought I'd be freer over there, wade in a cosmopolitan city. But I couldn't handle the freedom. It's true. I was bored here, in your barony. Things didn't work out. I felt left out with nothing to do, nothing to accomplish. But now I think that is just what I deserve." She buries her face in her arms. This woeful sight pulls your attention away from yourself.
  
  "Come, come now. You are the greatest woman I know and deserve the world. I am so happy I got to know you. Please, you know that I'm here for you right?"
  
  Far from what you intended, these words only escalate the situation. Your Isabella starts to cry. The very sound of it breaks your heart. It cracks your barriers forcing your repressed feelings to come out with the force of a thousand armies.
  
  You find yourself crying together.
  
  > It relieves both of you.
  Eventually, Isabella manages to regain herself. With a heavy sigh, she disentangles herself from your grasp and achieves some graceful poise.
  
  "Robert, how much do you know?" she asks with renewed certainty.
  
  "What?" You can't believe your ears.
  
  "Don't 'what' me Robert!" You haven't heard her raise her voice like this in years. "I've seen it. I see the way you're hurt, the way you pick every single word with such care. You know, the way you look at the world has changed. I see it in the manner you look at me. Every moment we spend together I feel a distance I've never felt before. It's as if you struggle to open yourself up. I can't handle this any longer, Robert!"
  
  Her stream of words overfloods your thoughts. You can hardly manage a measly, "I saw it..with my own eyes..."
  
  "Oh Robert, I am so sorry! I truly am! I didn't know, I didn't want to! It just happened and I regret it every single second of every day. Please, Robert..."
  
  She makes her way back to you; tries to hug you, to embrace you with her very being. It's everything you asked for moments ago. You got everything you wanted. Yet, upon hearing her say those words herself, she makes you sick. When you look at her, you don't see your beautiful wife, but a wretched creature.
  
  "Go away," you simply say.
  
  "Robert, please..." Your wife can't believe it.
  
  > say "GO AWAY!"
  And so you are alone once again. You regretted your outburst the moment you had it, but somehow it made you feel better. It's a hard thing, love. Once you give it a finger, it'll take your whole arm. You start to regret letting it enter your life in the first place. You don't even think you know what to do anymore. It feels like you're losing your mind.
  
  As you absentmindedly pluck and crush the grass around you, you try to find the reason behind the last developments. Somehow you let your guard down. You grew complacent and you learned nothing from it afterward. You relied on her to make you feel alive in this world. Every day and every night you sank deeper into that dark pit. Every moment you threaded further into that alluring lie, until one day you failed to see the light of the sun above you.
  
  You feel lost now. You had depended on that part of your life. Now you are truly alone. You are left in that pit without the illusion that made it all worth it. You feel trapped, betrayed and abandoned, with nowhere to go. It scares you.
  
  "Milord? Is everything alright?" a guard enters your world.
  
  "Yes," you lie.
  
  "Lady Isabella sent me," the guard continues. "She wants you to know that you'll always find her in your heart."
  
  "What do you mean? Where is she!"
  
  "She told me that she doesn't want you to follow her." His face is so disgustfully unexpressive.
  
  "Damn you! Tell me where she went!" you force yourself up to his ugly mug.
  
  "She didn't want..." You grab the guard by his shoulders. Your anger reaches its boiling point. "Very well, she has left for the capital. I'm told she was sorry, Milord."
  
  The news forces you to fall back to the ground. You thought you freed yourself from her influence. Yet, at the final stretch, she made you hers once again.
  
  > No, that road only leads you to your doom.
  Your heart, your gut screams at you to leave immediately. It would feel right. Yet something resists this first instinct. Following your heart has led you to only pain. You'll have to do better. You'll have to be better.
  
  You let loose of the poor guard's shoulders.
  
  "Thank you. Please ready my horse."
  
  "Milord, you want to follow Lady Isabella?"
  
  "I have followed her blindly for long enough. No, it's time for me to go back to the woods. I need to face my demons."
  
  "Should I get the healmaster?" His concern makes you chuckle.
  
  "Have him look for me if I'm not back at nightfall."
  
  "At once, Milord."
  
  By the time you manage to walk yourself to the stables, everything is ready. Your horse is ready, eyes eager and hooves trampling. It's almost as if he wants this to end as much as you do, as if he wants the real you back. You sigh. It's just a horse.
  
  You find yourself riding the same roads as before. The familiar turns pass you by in one green haze. There's so much to think about, so much to reflect. The one thing that's certain is Garreth. He's as a rock standing between the breaking of the furious waves. He'll help you find the light once again.
  
  > Back at the familiar cabin.
  The cabin is identical to your memory, unmarred by time and struggle. It emits a peaceful sense of languidity. It's exactly what you need. A bastion of safety standing amidst the untamed woods.
  
  Garreth is nowhere to be seen. The bastion is yours. You find yourself doing the familiarly mindless and repetitive chores. You clean the fireplace, reorder the timbers and sweep the floor. It helps you loosen your muscles and relax.
  
  "Robert." The sudden voice startles you. "I did not expect you here so soon."
  
  "The time was thick with events." Garreth always brought out the archaic ways in everyone he met.
  
  "Can you walk?"
  
  "Better than ever," you boast. This place fills you with youthful vigor. You'll be reminded of your mortality soon enough.
  
  "Come then, follow me." Garreth starts to walk, slowly to let you catch up. He pointedly ignores your limp.
  
  "I've come for advice," you start the conversation.
  
  "Advice and passed time is all that's left of me."
  
  "I don't know what to do. It's again about my wife, Isabella. We had a fight, I couldn't handle my forgiveness. Her actions were too vile, too recent. I pushed her away when she was just opening up."
  
  "You pushed her away when she was at her most vulnerable?" Garreth managed to utter those words with nothing but compassion.
  
  "Yes, I am sorry."
  
  "Don't be sorry. You did what you did. You chose yourself above putting yourself down. While that first act was despicable, it came from solid reasons and will lead you into healthier straits."
  
  "I feel so wrong, Garreth."
  
  "Sometimes feelings point you to the wrong thing. They nag you on when it's time to move past. Other times feelings help you discover your deepest needs. At that moment you told her off, you wanted to do it, didn't you?"
  
  You don't know the answer. Everything is mushed together in a raging storm indecipherable to your mind. Still, what Garreth says sounds vaguely true.
  
  "I did," you reply hesitantly.
  
  "Then stop worrying about the past and start thinking about the future. You still love her, that much is for everyone to see. But do you find your love worth the struggle of regaining your trust, regaining your relationship?" His eyes light up in enquiry.
  
  > say "Of course I do,"
  Garreth's eyes show a hint of guilty disappointment. Yet he remains there for you. He'll always stand by your side.
  
  "Go on then. Follow your heart. But remember, boy. Do so tempered with wisdom. Don't let yourself get lost again." There's a hint of finality behind those words. It was as if he was concluding a chapter in his life. Could it be?
  
  "Thank you, Garreth. Thank you for everything."
  
  "Yes, yes. Go now and continue on your own. I fear I'll have to move out soon." The greatest and only support who helped you through your worst times now moves on. You want to feel abandoned. Yet you feel his end will allow you a new beginning. You have to move on and become better. It's only you now, only you against the world.
  
  You both say your stoical goodbyes. There is nothing to do about it. Both of you want to leave the other with the best impression. Pride demands nothing less.
  
  So you move out of the woods, his parting gifts a newfound sense of determination. You feel as if he's still there. He left his image to guide you further. And further is the only route left.
  
  You leave your barony to embark on a solitary journey. The long road to Isabella leaves you exhausted. Days spent on the saddle grind through your will, strain your wounds. Yet the truth keeps you going. She is your love. She is waiting for you.
  
  > She is there.
  You see her as you arrive. She's there, standing on a balcony and gracing the heavens with her presence. She was indeed waiting. Nothing brings you more joy. You make haste to join her.
  
  You stable your horse as fast as you can. There is nothing stopping you from reaching her. You are ready. Let all bygones be bygones. Hope and passionate love fills your heart.
  
  "Where do you think you're going?" the nagging voice of your rotten liege disturbs your trajectory.
  
  "I've come to reclaim what I've lost." There is a fiery hint of challenge you never imagined you'd have. It shocks both of you.
  
  "She fled here to be saved from you." The tone was much weaker than the words.
  
  "Don't do this," you demand. "Let us save our marriage."
  
  Several guards join the heated exchange. The numeric superiority makes him feel safe and spurs him on.
  
  "Leave or be arrested." You can't let him stop you. With a quick movement, you ready your sword. You'll fight the whole castle if you have to, or die knowing you gave your life for her.
  
  "Listen-"
  
  "Robert..." There she is, every bit as divine as you had imagined. Your stance falters as your eyes meet. They look in pain, overflowing with boundless sorrow. Still, she came...
  
  "Don't do this Isabella!" the duke tries to interrupt your magical moment. You don't let him and abandon your sword as you move to embrace her. There is so much said in your stare, more in your grip.
  
  "I love you, Isa, always have. There is so much I wish I hadn't done. I was a fool, a damned fool for letting you go," you say. "Let me start by saying I forgive you; and beg of you to do the same."
  
  There, she returns your embrace. Her delicate hands wrap themselves around your neck. "I've always felt a connection, a thread of faith between us. Even at the worst moments, I felt disgusted by myself more than anything you'd done." Her tone is one of wistful happiness. "I am sorry for everything I did. I am sorry for everything I didn't do. I love you too, Robert."
  
  You wish you could spend your whole life like this.
  
  > say "No."
  "I can't let you do this. Isabella, remember everything he did. He pushed you away. He was disgusted by you. I love you for who you truly are. Don't throw this away." How did you ever look up to this man. He grew more pathetic with every word he uttered. Yet he still had you surrounded with his guards.
  
  "Let us go, Milord. Forget this day happened. Forget all of it. We can start again. We can go and never meet each other again. Just let us go."
  
  "Shut up! I am speaking to her." It seemed your words didn't have any effect. You look for another escape route, hardly listening to his further grovels. "... so don't choose him. Why go for a halfwitted and impoverished baron, when I am here for you?"
  
  That frog had regressed into throwing half-baked insults to lower his competition. One glance at your wife shows she's equally unimpressed.
  
  "You fooled me, told great tales and spun golden threads over my eyes. You actually had me fooled, blinded me to the truth behind it all. Hiding beneath all of that," she says disgusted while gesturing to him. "Is this. I'd gladly chose a halfwitted and impoverished baron over someone as deceitful and pathetic as you. At the very least he had the balls to be true to himself."
  
  As much as you'd like to continue to enjoy seeing your wife stand up to him like that, her spirit did little to defuse your precarious situation.
  
  "Maybe it isn't smart to insult our captor," you mutter under our breath. She pointedly ignores any sarcasm.
  
  "Trust me," she replies.
  
  > say "I do."
  "Then. Be. Silent," she continues. All you do in reply is gulp down your words. She now possessed a fire that you're afraid to be burnt by.
  
  "So as I said. You have a choice. Either you continue in your wallowing and end up arresting us under false pretenses, or you be a better man and set us free. You can't order faith around, Leo. Choosing to go against her will only expose your hideous insecurities to the whole world."
  
  You carefully look at your liege. At first, he seems merely indignant. Then his face turns a shade of red out of anger only unleashed by painful humiliation. You love her.
  
  "How dare you, woman! How dare you speak to me like this in public? I should have you hanged for treason!"
  
  "Do it," she replies coldly without hesitation. "Do it and show your true self to the world."
  
  At her statement, the guards close their ranks around you. Spears and swords stand ready at a word's notice. The only thing between you both and certain death lies a furious duke.
  
  He opens his mouth, as if to give the order, only to close it again. He seems as torn as you were weeks ago. He had everything he desired moments ago, only for it to be pulled apart by the woman at the center of it. You know how he feels, almost sympathize with him, yet find no mercy on the one who was so involved in your downfall.
  
  Sensing his moment of indecision Isabella pulls you away. Slowly you step backward as if walking away from a threatened cow. After a few steps, you see your victory. The man had broken his posture, hanged his head in defeat. Tears formed beneath his bloodshot eyes.
  
  You turn around to face your love. "Let's go."
  
  You quickly run for the horse, ride as fast as you can into safety. You'd be safe at home. Your barony has defied any invaders for centuries. On the way back, you both keep a sacred silence. There is simply too much to be said to simply put in words.
  
  You feel good.
  
  You're finally together.