“I imagine you feel a bit like people do when they’ve graduated from university,” she mused, running her free hand through her hair. “You have a whole life in front of you to choose from.” She looked up at him, a playful grin crossing her lips. “What are you going to do when I’m gone?”
She tilted her head, noticing his frown. “You could take over the farm,” she suggested before shrugging. “You probably won’t even be hanging around with me still by the time I die.”
She was frowning too, her ears slowly lowering. “Don’t be sad,” she said gently, reaching up and ruffling his hair. She had to stand on her toes to do so. “It’s okay.”
She shrugged a little, looking back down again. “Believe it or not,” she replied, slipping her hands in her pockets, “I’m not the love of your life. I’m just a blip on the timeline.”
She looked up at him, frowning a little. “Why?” she asked, her brow furrowing defensively. “It’s true. You’ve already lived an average elven lifespan almost twice. I’m not permanent, Z, and I’m not... you know. I’m not the girl you spend most of your life with.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked over at her. "So you just suspect I'm going to leave you? Why? Because I get bored? What's the reason?"
She blinked in surprise, and she sounded a little hurt, pulling away from him. “What? No. That’s not what I said.”
“You probably won’t even be hanging around with me still by the time I die," he repeated, looking down at her. "That's what you said. Why wouldn't I?"
“People fall out of love, Zerras,” she replied sharply, crossing her arms protectively. “And sometimes people recognize that the situation just isn’t good enough for them. Sometimes that happens.”
“Me leaving you? No, Zerras,” she replied hotly, her brow furrowing. “No, that isn’t the fate that I think our relationship will fall to. I’m talking about you realizing that the farm life isn’t everything that you hoped it would be, that I’m not the person you seem to think I am. That’s what I think is going to happen. I’m not permanent.”
"Why do you keep assuming how I feel?" he asked sharply, crossing his arms. "How I think? You just make guesses on what I'll do. Don't do that. I'm telling you one thing and you just believe in the other. Are you basing it off the fact that I was king once? Do you think those traits have stuck around?"
Her lower lip trembled, but she held firm. “I am going to die, Zerras,” she replied, her voice cracking slightly as she said his name. She fell silent for a moment, clearly trying to recover her composure. Her voice was soft when she spoke again. “I have a little over 200 years left. That’s how long you were imprisoned for. I have one more prison sentence left of living, while you... you have almost 1000 years left. Even if you spend every waking moment with me while I’m alive, the fact remains that either you are going to watch me die, or you’re going to move on before that happens. I don’t...” Her voice cracked again and she looked away from him for a moment before talking, her voice betraying her. “I don’t want you to see me die, Zerras.”
His gaze was unrelenting as he watched her. "I told you there were ways to fix that. Even after you die I'd be doomed to roam this world hated. I would outlive a vast majority of people. Some might say it'd be great to live for so long, but demons know it's a curse. My father knew that too."
