Chapter 23: Corpse

I grab ahold of her wrist. She swings below me with the morning traffic in the background. She doesn't look at me, she doesn't thank me for saving her. She quietly hums along to a song, staring down, as if she still expected herself to fall.

I pull her up to the roof and hold her in my arms, ever so tightly. 'Why did you do that,' I whisper, 'you could've died.'

For a while it's silent, only the sound of the city fills the air. But then she chuckles, a faint smile on her face. She stares at the horizon, seeing something I'm blind to. 'I can't do this again.'

Tears fill her eyes, she leans back into my arms, I know I've lost her.

I don't dare to move for I don't know what's waiting for me after this. So I look at the rising sun, the golden light. If I was to move, I had to admit that I failed. Not only the assignment, given to me by the Duke, but also her. She had trusted me, she had truly believed that I could save her.