“His name is gone.”
Lexander didn’t know what to say.
“So you think…”
He stopped.
Io watched him.
“You think I am him?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
Lexander blinked.
Io smiled faintly.
“I know you are.”
He stared at her.
“That is not less terrifying.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
Io looked toward the floor.
“Because it happened again.”
Lexander felt his heart begin to pound.
“Again?”
“Yes.”
She lifted her eyes.
“In my second life.”
The silence became unbearable.
“I remembered the first.”
Lexander’s mouth went dry.
“My second life was shorter.”
Io walked slowly toward one of the pews.
She ran her fingers across the dust.
“I was born into a family of farmers.”
Lexander followed her with his eyes.
“I met you when we were children.”
She smiled.
“We hated each other.”
Lexander couldn’t help himself.
“That sounds more believable.”
Io glared at him.
He raised both hands.
“Sorry.”
“You stole my horse.”
Lexander stared.
Io smiled.
He slowly lowered his hands.
“Oh.”
“Not Buttercup.”
“Thank the gods.”
“A different horse.”
“That somehow makes this worse.”
Io’s smile faded.
“You died at seventeen.”
Lexander stopped breathing.
Io looked away.
“In a war.”
The old chapel grew quiet.
“Third life?”
Lexander asked.
His voice barely worked.
Io nodded.
“I was a physician.”
“And me?”
“A sailor.”
Lexander blinked.
“A sailor?”
“You hated the sea.”
“That sounds like me.”
“You got seasick.”
“I absolutely believe that.”
Io laughed.
Then her expression collapsed.
“He drowned.”
Lexander stopped joking.
Io looked down at her hands.
“I spent three days on the shore.”
Her voice became a whisper.
“Waiting for the sea to give you back.”
The words struck him harder than he expected.
“I was pregnant.”
Lexander’s eyes widened.
Io shut hers.
“I never told him.”
A long silence followed.
Finally, Lexander spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
Io looked at him.
For a moment, something almost angry flashed through her eyes.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t apologize.”
Her voice broke.
“You didn’t do anything.”
Lexander lowered his head.
She was right.
He hadn’t.
But somehow—
He still felt guilty.
Io took a slow breath.
“The fourth life was different.”
She returned to the altar.
“I decided I would not look for you.”
Lexander frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I thought the gods were cruel.”
Her voice hardened.
“Every time I found you, I lost you.”
She looked at him.
“So I decided that if I remembered, I would stay away.”
Lexander felt something twist in his chest.
“And?”
Io smiled sadly.
“I lasted eleven years.”
He couldn’t help it.
A small laugh escaped him.
Io pointed at him.
“Don’t.”
“You lasted eleven years?”
“You were a blacksmith.”
“I was a blacksmith?”
“Yes.”
“Was I any good?”
“You were terrible.”
Lexander looked offended.
Io laughed.
“You burned down your master’s workshop.”
“That could happen to anyone.”
“You were twenty-four.”
“Still learning.”
“You tried to fight a horse.”
“Was it Buttercup?”
Io laughed harder.
And suddenly—
She stopped.
Her expression changed.
Lexander immediately noticed.
“What happened?”
Io looked at him.
Her voice became very quiet.
“You died protecting me.”
The humor vanished.
“From what?”
“I don’t remember.”
Lexander frowned.
“You don’t remember?”
Io shook her head.
“Some memories fade.”
She touched her temple.
“Others are taken.”
The air inside the chapel became cold.
Lexander stared at her.
“Taken by who?”
Io didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
Something else was involved.
Something neither of them understood.
Lexander stepped toward her.
“You said there were seven lives.”
Io froze.
He saw it.
The smallest movement.
The way her fingers tightened.
The way her breathing changed.
“I didn’t.”
“You said this happened again.”
“I—”
“How many times, Io?”
She looked at him.
And for the first time since entering the chapel—
Queen Io looked afraid.
“Seven.”
Lexander stared.
“Seven lives?”
“Yes.”
Her voice was barely audible.
“Seven times.”
He took a step backward.
The title of an old children’s rhyme came to his mind.
Seven times to find your love.
He had heard it before.
Everyone had.
But he had never understood where it came from.
Io continued.
“In every life, I remembered.”
Lexander stared at her.
“You remembered all of them?”
“Not immediately.”
She shook her head.
“The memories returned slowly.”
Her eyes became distant.
“Dreams at first.”
“Then faces.”
“Voices.”
“Deaths.”
Lexander swallowed.
“And every time…”
Io looked at him.
“I found you.”
The words hung between them.
Lexander didn’t know why they affected him.
He had known this woman for most of his life.
Technically.
They were cousins.
They had played together as children.
They had grown apart.
That was all.
Yet as she spoke, something inside him ached.
Not because he remembered.
He didn’t.
But because some part of him wanted to.
“What happened to the seventh?”
Lexander asked.
Io’s eyes filled with tears.
The question had been a mistake.
He knew it immediately.
Io turned away.
“The seventh was the worst.”
Lexander waited.
“I thought I had finally won.”
Her voice was trembling.
“I thought…”
She laughed softly.
Brokenly.
“I thought the gods had finally grown tired of hurting me.”
Lexander didn’t move.
“We grew old.”
For a moment, Io smiled.
A real smile.
“He proposed beneath a tree.”
Lexander’s chest tightened.
“He was terrible at speeches.”
“Sounds familiar.”
Io glanced at him.
“Very.”
He smiled.
Then watched it disappear from her face.
“We had a daughter.”
Lexander stopped smiling.
Io looked toward the shattered window.
“She had his eyes.”
Her voice became almost too quiet to hear.
“I loved them.”
Lexander said nothing.
“I had spent six lives believing that if I could just find him early enough…”
She pressed a hand against her mouth.
“If I could just keep him safe…”
Her shoulders trembled.
“I thought I had finally done it.”
Lexander stepped forward.
“Io.”
“One winter morning…”
She stopped.
The Queen’s voice failed her.
When she spoke again, she sounded different.
Older.
Not physically.
But in a way Lexander could not explain.
“Something came for us.”
The chapel seemed to darken.
Lexander’s hand instinctively moved toward his sword.
He wasn’t wearing one.
“What?”
Io slowly turned.
“I don’t know.”
Her eyes met his.
“And that’s what terrifies me.”
The wind moved through the broken windows.
Candles that had not been lit flickered.
Lexander stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know.”
The flames disappeared.
Darkness returned.
Io continued.
“Our daughter died first.”
Lexander felt his stomach turn.
“Then him.”
Her voice cracked.
“And I…”
She looked down at her hands.
“I was the last.”
Silence.
“I spent seven lives trying to love you.”
Lexander’s breath caught.
Io laughed.
It was empty.
“Seven lives trying to find you.”
Her eyes lifted toward him.
“Seven lives trying to keep you alive.”
She stepped closer.
“And seven times…”
Her voice broke completely.
“I failed.”
Lexander didn’t know what to say.
What could anyone say?
He was a stranger.
And apparently—
He wasn’t.
Io wiped her face.
“Do you understand now?”
“No.”
She blinked.
Lexander’s answer surprised her.
He took another step closer.
“I understand the words.”
His expression softened.
“But I don’t understand why you’re telling me.”
Io looked at him.
For a long moment, she didn’t speak.
Then—
“Because this is the eighth.”
The world seemed to stop.
Lexander stared.
“The eighth?”
Io nodded.
Her face had gone pale.
“This life.”
She looked toward the chapel doors.
“Something is wrong.”
Lexander’s heartbeat quickened.
“You said seven.”
“I know.”
“Then how are you here?”
Io’s lips trembled.
“I shouldn’t be.”
The words echoed through the chapel.
Lexander stared at her.
A cold realization slowly crept into his mind.
“You’re not supposed to have another life.”
“No.”
Io’s voice became a whisper.
“Neither are you.”
Far beneath the mountains, something opened its eyes.
Once.
Twice.
Then a thousand times.
A chamber of black stone stretched into darkness.
Symbols older than any kingdom covered its walls.
At its center stood a mirror.
Its surface was completely black.
A voice spoke from nowhere.
“The seventh cycle has ended.”
Another answered.
“Then why are they alive?”
Silence.
The mirror trembled.
A crack appeared across its surface.
Then another.
And another.
Finally—
A woman’s voice whispered from within the darkness.
“Because someone has interfered.”
The first voice became angry.
“Who?”
The mirror shattered.
For a moment, there was only darkness.
Then something moved inside it.
A silhouette.
Tall.
Human.
Almost.
“Find them.”
The voice was no longer human.
“Before he remembers.”