Page 25 of Off with Her Head

"The price of transformation isn't just our separate identities." Her eyes hold mine, unflinching despite the difficulty of what she's saying. "To counter Mara's corruption, to heal thepool, one queen will need to remain. To become the guardian of the unified magic, the anchor that maintains balance."

"Remain?" I frown, not comprehending. "Remain where?"

"Within the pool itself." Her voice is soft but clear. "One queen must fall, Scarlett. One of us must become one with the source of magic. One must cease to exist to ensure that corruption never takes hold again."

The revelation hits me harder than anything before. Not just transformation, but sacrifice. Not just change, butend.

"The mirror showed this?" I ask, though I already know she’s not lying.

She nods, her expression somber. "Not explicitly, but it was there in the vision. As we healed the pool, one of us was drawn into it, becoming part of the magic itself rather than merely its wielder."

"Which one?" The question escapes before I can stop it. "Which one of us falls?"

"The mirror didn't show that clearly." But something in her eyes makes me suspect she's not telling the whole truth. That perhaps the vision was clearer than she's admitting. "Perhaps it depends on choices yet to be made. Perhaps fate hasn't decided."

Or perhaps she's already decided, already determined that she will be the one to make the ultimate sacrifice. The thought sends a spike of panic through me. The idea of losing Ravenna, of continuing without her, of facing a transformed world where she exists only as part of the magic rather than as the woman I've come to—

I cut the thought off before it can fully form, not ready to face the implications. Not ready to name the emotion that makes the prospect of her sacrifice so utterly unbearable.

"We need to know more," I say instead, turning back to the mirror. “There has to be an alternative.”

Ravenna's smile is sad, knowing. "There may not be alternatives, Scarlett."

"I refuse to accept that." The Queen of Hearts resurfaces, stubborn and demanding. "There is always another way, always a different approach, always a choice. Show us," I command the mirror directly, pressing my own hand against its surface. "Show us how to defeat Mara without losing each other."

For a moment, nothing happens. Then, slowly, the silver mist begins to swirl again. Not pulling us into vision this time, but forming images on its surface like a conventional reflection.

It shows us approaching the pool together, our magics already extensively merged. But instead of one of us being drawn into the pool, we stand at its edge, channeling our combined power into the corrupted waters. The process is slower, more deliberate, less dramatic than the previous vision. And the transformation it shows is less complete—we remain recognizably separate beings, though changed,enhancedby each other's magic.

But there's a cost to this approach as well. The illness recedes more slowly, lingering in the deepest parts of the pool. Mara is defeated, but the taint she introduced remains, dormant but not destroyed. A potential threat that future generations will have to monitor.

"A temporary solution," Ravenna breathes, holding her hand over her heart. "Not an end to the corruption, but a delay."

"But we both survive," I point out. "We both continue, changed but present. Isn't that worth considering?"

She studies the vision thoughtfully. "Perhaps. But at what cost to future generations? What burden are we placing on those who come after us, simply because we couldn't bear to be parted?"

The question hangs between us, unanswerable for now. The mirror's surface clears, returning to its normal state, as if it has shown us all it can—or all it'swillingto.

"We don't have to decide at this moment," Ravenna says finally. "There will be time to determine... which approach we take."

Which sacrifice we make, she means. Whether we risk future generations to preserve our present connection, or whether one of us gives up individual existence to ensure permanent safety.

"Yes," I agree, though my mind is already racing, searching for alternatives the mirror hasn't shown. Seeking a third path, a different approach, a way to preserve both the future and our present. "We should focus on the immediate challenges. Finding the pool, understanding Mara's plans, preparing a war."

Ravenna nods, but I can see she's not convinced by my apparent acceptance.

I will not lose her. Not to Mara, not to corruption, and certainly not to sacrifice. There must be another way, a path the mirror hasn't revealed. And I will find it, whatever the cost.

"Scarlett," she begins, her voice softer than I've ever heard it.

But before she can continue, the chamber door bursts open. A shadow-warrior stands there, breathing hard, his composure shattered by whatever news he brings.

"My Queen," he addresses Ravenna, bowing hastily. "Forgive the interruption, but a messenger has arrived from the border. Edmund's forces have broken through our western defenses. They carry crystal devices in greater numbers, and they're accompanied by creatures that seem...wrong."

Ravenna straightens, the vulnerable moment passing as she reassumes her role as Darkmore's queen. "How many?"

"Hundreds, Your Majesty. And they're moving fast, heading directly for the castle."

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