Kingdom of daggers

How do you explain heartbreak to someone who has never experienced it? Is it a pain we all feel, maybe in more ways than one like physically or even mentally? Or maybe like a paper cut or a scraped knee? In my experience of pain, one of the worst i felt so far in my life is when i lost a good friend of mine because of the lies that were told to make her believe

Little did I know i was about to experience the second worst pain i ever knew, " What more do you want from me, Artemis?" In this moment, hearts were broken and the things we said- we can't take back, no matter how hard we try. " You wanna know what i want- i want an explanation for why you treat me like I'm fragile like this porcelain doll when i am not & you know that- ever since that damn accident you have treated me like a bubble waiting to pop." 

My voice was shaking, tears were ready to fall- but all i wanted to do was take back the entire day- the day i woke up i wish i could take it back. "I know what you are, Artemis." At that moment, that is when I knew I had to leave. 

The silence that followed was suffocating, heavy with unspoken words and unshed tears. Artemis's heart thudded painfully against her ribs, each beat a stark reminder of the chasm that had opened up between them.

Draco's eyes, once a stormy gray, were now like shards of ice, piercing her very soul. "You think I don't know pain?" he said, his voice low and laced with bitterness. "You think I treat you like glass because I see you as weak? You couldn't be more wrong, Artemis."

She could feel the weight of his gaze, the intensity of his emotions that he so rarely showed. It was as if he was peeling back layers of himself, revealing a vulnerability that he had sworn to never expose.

Artemis swallowed hard, her own anger melting away as she took in his tormented expression. "Then why, Draco? Why do you keep me at arm's length?"

He turned away, his jaw clenched. "Because every time I look at you, I'm reminded of that night—the night I almost lost you. The fear that gripped me then claws its way back, and I can't... I won't let it happen again."

The confession hung in the air, a fragile truth that threatened to break under the weight of their shared past. Artemis reached out, her hand trembling as she touched his arm. "But you didn't lose me, I'm still here. And I'm not made of porcelain. I'm stronger than you think."

Draco's eyes met hers once more, a storm of emotions warring within them. "I know you are," he whispered. "But the thought of losing you is the one thing that truly terrifies me."

As they stood there, the distance between them felt both insurmountable and nonexistent. They were two souls, bound by a history of pain and the fragile hope of something more. It was a moment of reckoning, a crossroads that would define the very essence of their being.

In the stillness of Draco's grand yet somber study, the ticking of the ancient clock was a metronome to their standoff. Artemis, with her heart caught in her throat, watched as a muscle flickered in Draco's jaw, a sign of the turmoil beneath his stoic facade.

"You've always been the brave one," she said, her voice soft but steady. "You faced down demons, fought battles I can't even imagine, but this—us—it's not something you can just shield away."

Draco's hand lifted almost imperceptibly, as if to reach out to her, before it clenched into a fist at his side. "You don't understand, Artemis. Every demon, every enemy I've faced, pales in comparison to the thought of you in harm's way. The night you were injured, the night the darkness nearly claimed you, it changed something in me."

Artemis stepped closer, the space between them charged with a mix of fear and longing. "But it didn't claim me, Draco. I fought my way back—to you. And ever since, I've been fighting to break through the walls you've built around yourself."

He turned from her, his gaze lost to the fire crackling in the hearth, the flames casting a dance of light and shadow across his features. "I built those walls to protect you, to keep you safe from the enemies that still lurk in the shadows, waiting for a chance to strike."

"But I don't need protection, not from you," Artemis insisted, her determination rising like a tide. "I need the man who laughs at my terrible jokes, who looks at the stars and dreams of a better world. I need you, Draco—all of you, not just the parts you think are strong enough."

Draco's facade cracked, a single, heavy sigh escaping him as he finally faced her. "And what if I'm not enough?" he asked, the question a whisper of vulnerability.

Artemis reached for him, her hands framing his face, forcing him to see the conviction in her eyes. "You are enough. You've always been enough. And together, we're more than the sum of our fears and our pasts."

They stood there, locked in an embrace that was as much about finding solace as it was about staking a claim on their future.

Artemis's gaze lingered on the horizon, where the cerulean sky kissed the jagged mountain tops, the beauty of the world around them a stark contrast to the turmoil that churned in her heart. She had always found solace in the untamed wilderness, but even the whispering pines and the gentle caress of the wind could not ease the tension that hung between her and Draco.

Draco's posture was rigid, the set of his shoulders a barricade against his own emotions. His hands, once gentle and sure, now balled into fists at his sides. "You think I don't know pain?" The question was a growl, torn from the depths of a soul marred by battles unseen.

Artemis's breath hitched, her own hands reaching out only to hover hesitantly in the space between them. "I never said that," she replied, her voice a mere wisp of sound, barely audible over the rustling leaves. "But you act as though I'm to be sheltered, as if I'm not capable of standing by your side when the darkness comes."

He spun around, his gaze cutting through her like the sharpest of blades. "You don't understand, Artemis. It's not about your strength," he said, his voice breaking on her name. "It's about the fact that every time I see you, every time I touch you, I'm reminded of the fragility of this life. That night, the night the fire raged and the world fell apart, I realized how close I came to living a nightmare where you no longer existed."

The memory of the fire flickered between them, the heat of the flames a ghostly presence that whispered of close calls and second chances. She remembered the terror, the way her heart had seemed to stop within her chest as she searched for him among the chaos.

"I know you're haunted by it, Draco. I am too," Artemis said, stepping closer, her determination a palpable force. "But don't you see? That night showed us how precious our time is, how every moment is a gift not to be wasted."

Draco's eyes, stormy seas of emotion, were wide and filled with a pain that reached out to her, begging for understanding. "The fear of that night has never left me,"