A beating heart

Epilogue

So this is it. I can't actually believe that this is the last chapter. I never expected this story to span anymore than 10 chapter, and now it's almost 40. Over 130k words and over 1k view, its incredible. Thanks to every single person that read, commented or liked the story, It makes me so happy to know that you guys enjoyed it.

I know that some parts of this story are a bit messy and not perfectly planned out but I had so much fun writing it. The one thing I've always known was how this story would end and I hope you'll find it satisfying.

I have many more ideas for future stories in my head, and maybe after my exams are over I'll publish more stories. I don't think they'll be as long as this one but we'll see :)

So one last time, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! :)

Epilogue

„Mary" he called out to her.

Time froze for a single moment as she caught his blue eyes. He stared at her with a mix of deep sorrow and pain and the fear paralyzed her own heart. The smile he gave her was almost an apologetic one and her stomach recoiled.

He had accepted his fate, to willingly give his life for his daughter and hers. ‚I love you' he mouthed the words and she could do nothing but stare at his face with tears swimming in her eyes. This couldn't be it, this was not the end she had dreamed for them. His death wouldn't be the end of their excruciating journey, this couldn't be the reward for all their sacrifices. No god was this cruel or unforgiving.

„Francis" she cried out in absolute terror.

He tried to keep the smile on his lips but the tears won over and his face turned into an expression of sadness. Why didn't he fight, why wouldn't he move? She wanted to shake him, to force him off the ice, to do something. He would break through any second but he did nothing but stare at her, as if to memorize ever little detail of her face for the very last time.

She wouldn't let them take him from her, not again. The tightness in her chest increased as her muscles strained to keep her upright put the excruciating pain was not one of physical origin. It was as if an essential organ, a part of her body had been ripped from her flesh. The hole felt unbridgeable and made her completely powerless.

The awful cracking sound, she had dreaded to hear, drowned out any other noise. And as the ice crumbled beneath him, he used his last moments above the freezing water to ease Anne onto the save ice. He fell and she felt everything crumble to ash and rubble inside her. She had expected it to be more dramatic, had thought to see him fall in slow motion, maybe even hear his screams. But he was gone in the blink of an eye, without another sound the lake had swallowed him up.

The silence felt harder than any screams or the sounds of breaking ice. No one moved and she felt herself shaking as her nails dug into the cold bark of the tree to her right. Her lungs were squeezed dry of all air and she could sense the darkness approaching.

Then a cry echoed through the air, closely followed by another one. Anne was still on the ice and her screams had broken the silence. Her daughter was still there, only meters from where she was standing, cowered against a tree.

She scrambled forward, almost tripping over her own skirts as she hurried onto the ice. Amélie and the guards called out behind her but she ignored their warnings. Even if the ice should break under her weight, she did not fear the cold waters which would hold her certain death.

„Francis" it sounded more like a plea than an actual scream and the tears broke her voice.

„Francis" she repeated his name over and over, ringing more desperate every time.