"If love was a sword,
you caught it by the handle,
and I caught it by the blade."

***

Ice. Never had Asher seen such a beautiful sight — cascades of ice blooming like flowers, trickling like glaciers, forming a halo above the crown of silver hair. The girl before him had streaks of tears down her face, she looked pained and conflicted at once. She was shaking her head, so her platinum blonde hair was lifted around her, capturing the sunlight and shadows.

She looked like a fallen angel.

Don't make me do it. She was mouthing to him, begging with her eyes.

Asher smiled. He did not care if she was wielding a sword, pointed towards his chest. This battle would have to be his loss, he couldn't imagine it any other way. He abandoned his sword and fell onto his knees, letting her blade skim his skin ever so slightly.

The relentless sunlight beat down upon them, making the girl's face a blur. Apart from her soft crying, Asher could hear nothing else. His eyes refused to leave hers.

She was beautiful. Even when the light made her tears glimmer like silver, she was beautiful. Even when she was holding a crimson dagger meant to pierce his heart, she was beautiful. Asher thought she could not possibly have been real — he worshipped the very ground she walked on.

The handle of her weapon had turned into ice. She was shaking all over, not from the immense cold she brought with her, but the fear.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" Her voice was faltering.

Asher had wondered why too. Wasn't it common sense, to fight the person who betrayed you, to break them and save your life?

And then, it hit him like a train. Love. The greatest love of all kinds, the type that would make him willing to even surrender his life.

He was willing to forgo it all for her.

He had abandoned everything. He was once a lost soul, and suddenly a brilliant girl had come and shown him all the life there was to his world — his goddess, his angel. How could he possibly have wished her to take his place? She had to be the one holding the blade.

He made a choice -- a choice that he knew he would not regret.

Asher gripped both sides of the blade. Even as it broke the skin and cut into flesh, he stared straight at the girl. She was holding her breath, about to retreat.

"Do it." Asher told her. Please be strong. There can only be one winner in this battle, so please do it for me.

It wasn't that he was strong enough to withstand his death, but rather, he was too weak to see her die instead.

The girl weeped. Yet, she remained unvulnerable, untouchable. She was a warrior standing above him, and he believed that she could get through this. It will be difficult, but she had to walk on.

For a moment, Asher thought that his fears would come true and she would back away. But eventually, she turned her face to someone sitting in the royal pedestal in the crowds.

This is for you, she had seemed to say.

With delirious abandonment, she yelled at drove the sword through. Asher took the blade and followed it through, the frightening sound of the world erupting and dying away drowned his voice out.

He braced for the pain to come. But none did.

There was just shock. As if no amount of preparation could get him ready for this very moment.

The end of his life.

As he crumpled to the ground, the world flashed before him. Somewhere in the horizon, a shattering yell broke the stillness. As he fell, all he could look at was those beautiful eyes.

At least it had been him. The fallen angel holding the blade — at least she wouldn't be hurt this way. Because he knew that if it was her, he would have died a million deaths over and over.

He was relieved. Right before he crumpled to the ground, he could force out his last few words. His last words to the screaming beauty, the greatest love of his life.

"Long live the Queen."

***

2005
Asher was trembling when he was finished seeing that vision. This was the future that the Prophetic Royal claimed he would have? The Prophetic Royal, Nadia, was able to give him a vision -- a glimpse of his future. She watched his vision together with him, now only the two of them knew how he would die.

Nadia looked at him sadly, then gazed uneasily at Ellione, who had accompanied Asher to go see his future. Ellione nudged him gently. "What is it?"

He was only five. He was only a child, and had already gazed into the future and seen his death. That would happen many years later, but still, he was horrified to know that his life would be indeed nasty, brutish and short.

Asher tried to regain his composure. He turned to Nadia, accusingly. "You're making this up. That... that cannot be true."

Nadia shook her head sadly, pity in her eyes. "It is the truth, Asher. You must come to accept it. You won't be able to change your fate, but maybe if you kill -- that girl you saw -- maybe you can prolong your life."

"Prolong your life?" Ellione whipped her head around. Her grip on Asher's hand tightened. Asher could see the fear in his face reflected in her wide, brown eyes.

"I... I saw how I would die, many years from now. I saw a girl kill me." He instinctively held a hand to his chest, where she had driven the blade in, in his vision.

Tears rolled down Ellione's cheeks and stained them just like the girl in Asher's vision had.

"Who is it? I'll kill her."

Asher was taken aback at hearing his half-sister say that. He looked at Ellione's hardened gaze, and for a second she didn't look like the Ellione he knew.

She was only a few days younger, practically a twin to Asher. He felt apologetic that she had to share his pain of knowing his bleak future. "I don't know. My vision was blurry, so I couldn't see her face."

Asher couldn't bring himself to tell her the rest of the details. His killer would be just as powerful as he was. Only a Royallier as powerful as him could be able to kill him. And Asher knew that no one in this realm was as powerful as him now, so he must not have met her yet. The girl had yet to enter the palace.

Nadia looked between him and Ellione. "You poor child. There is nothing more painful than sitting around waiting for your death to come. And more so knowing that you would be killed by someone you love."

Ellione spoke, incredulous. "Love? You mean, you would fall for a person who would kill you in future?" She bit her bottom lip, eyes filled with rage. "At least now we know. You cannot give yourself up just like that. I won't allow you to love anyone..."

In spite of himself, Asher laughed at this. He had always guarded his heart anyway. He had other reasons for not allowing himself to feel deeply for anyone, he had many enemies, putting him in a position that made it dangerous for anyone he was associated with. Thus, he was mastering the art of pushing people away, all except for Ellione, who many did not know was his half-sister.

"If it makes you feel better, little prince, I foresee that the realm has a very bright future ahead. The girl killed you so she could take the position of Queen and rule over the kingdom, so at least you can rest knowing that she will do a good job at it."

Ellione glared daggers at Nadia. "No future is bright without my brother leading it. How can you suggest that things would be better without him gone?" Her grip on Asher tightened, she was leading him away now. "Let's go. We don't have to hear any of this nonsense."

Asher let Ellione forcibly guide him out of the room. He was still a little shaken at seeing his death, but he had a firm belief that he could change it. At least now that he knew what was coming, and he could prepare himself for it.

He had to get to her, before she got to him. He had to kill her; he couldn't allow himself to fall in love...