To Rewrite The Fate

The ink was faded in places, but the weight of María Georgiana's words pressed against my chest like a hand squeezing my heart.

I turned the page, my fingers trembling.

March 3rd, 1880

"It started with a whisper."

"I thought I was dreaming, that the voice in the dark was nothing more than a trick of my exhausted mind. But then it spoke again, louder this time. 'You will love him seven times. And seven times, you will lose him.' "

"I turned, expecting to see Claire or Ambrielle beside me, but there was no one there. Only the cold, empty room and the feeling of something unseen curling around my skin."

"A curse, the voice said. A fate sealed in ink."

"I thought it was madness."

"But then, the dreams began."

"Memories of lives I had never lived, of a face I had never seen and yet knew better than my own."

"Noachus."

"I have met him before. I have loved him before. I have lost him before."

"And it is happening again."

I shuddered. The candle flickered, casting shadows across the diary's worn pages.

I turned the next page.

March 10th, 1880

"I tried to fight it."

"I refused to believe it. But the more I resisted, the stronger the dreams became. In each one, I saw myself standing at the edge of the Red River, the cold water lapping at my feet, the reflection of my tear-streaked face rippling below. I was always alone. Always wearing a wedding gown. Always standing on the eve of my union with the king."

"And then, always, the final moment—"

"A step forward."

"A splash."

"Silence."

"I have drowned six times before."

"And now, I am here again."

"This is my last chance."

"I must escape."

The ink at the edges of the page was smudged, as if María Georgiana had wept over her own words.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to keep reading.

March 14th, 1880

"Noachus is my only hope."

"He says we can leave before the wedding. That he has planned a way out, a path through the valley where the king's men will not search for us. I believe him. I must believe him."

"If I stay, I will die."

"If I go, I might live."

"But if we fail—if we are caught—then the river will claim me again, just as it always has."

"Noachus does not understand why I tremble when we speak of our escape. He does not know what I have seen, the past lives that press against the edges of my mind like ghosts waiting to take my place. If he knew, would he still want me?"

"I will not tell him. I cannot."

"All that matters is that we leave before my wedding night."

"That we break the cycle."

My breath hitched.

It wasn't just a possibility. It was a pattern. A fate María Georgiana had already lived through six times.

And she thought that running away with Noachus was the only way to stop it.

But she had already tried that.

And it had failed.

She had died anyway.

I pressed a hand to my forehead, nausea curling in my stomach.

If I followed this diary—if I did everything María had done before me—then I would be walking straight toward the same fate.

Straight toward the Red River.

I couldn't let that happen.

I needed to do something different. Anything different.

I flipped ahead, searching for any clue, anything that could tell me when she had been caught, when the moment of no return had happened.

And then, I found it.

March 20th, 1880

"I leave tomorrow night."

"Noachus has secured our passage on a merchant's cart that departs before dawn. It is our only chance to leave before the wedding."

"Claire will cover for me until it is too late for my father to send his guards after us. By the time he realizes I am gone, we will be beyond his reach."

"I cannot let fear stop me. If I hesitate, if I waver, I will be lost."

"This is my last night in this cage. Tomorrow, I will be free."

"Or tomorrow, I will be dead."

I shut the diary so fast that dust flew up in a cloud.

She had planned to leave tomorrow night.

If I did the same, if I let history play out exactly as before…

I would be caught.

And if I was caught, I would end up at the Red River.

I couldn't let that happen.

I needed to stall.

I needed to drag out the days, delay the escape, find a different way to change María's fate.

I needed more time with Noachus.

If I followed the diary's timeline, I would be dead in three days.

I had to make the days longer.

I had to rewrite the story.

I took a deep breath, forcing down the panic rising in my chest.

María Georgiana had tried to outrun fate.

But I would do something else.

I would outsmart it.

I squared my shoulders, determination burning in my veins.

I had three days to change the past.

Three days to make sure Noachus and I weren't doomed to repeat history.

Three days before fate tried to pull me to the river.

I wasn't going to let it win.

This time, the story would end differently.