100 Days Marriage Contract

Prologue

Day 100.

He looked down at her, and his heart broke once more. 1

He'd lost count of how many times he'd had to witness her death. He'd thought the first time was gut-wrenching, enough to break a man into a million irretrievable pieces, but that was so long ago now that he could hardly remember the pain of watching her die right in front of him. All he could remember now were all the times that followed. The time that she was skewered with a spear. The time that she was turned to stone. The time that she caught the Black Death before he could even reach her. The time that she burst into flames. The time when they got so, so close, and they killed her before he could do anything. And now, when she was brought down by the most simple and disgustingly human killer of them all: a bullet.

All those times were so much worse than the first time, for one single reason: they were his fault. He was responsible for her death, over and over and over again. Not only that, he had to live with that knowledge, with knowing and remembering that every time she died, it was because he failed her.

That was the real curse.

He hears a soft sound from behind him, and when he turns around there's a familiar man standing silently behind him. Like every other time, he's accompanied by his favourite dog, who sits next to him as silently as his master, and is as black as the night shrouding the two figures.

The man arches an eyebrow when he takes in the scene before him. "A soldier this time, are we? That's a little on the nose considering your predicament, don't you think?"

He rocks back on his heels and slowly gets to his feet, very deliberately choosing not to respond. The man, as per usual, finds this incredibly amusing.

"The silent treatment?" The man chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest. The taut muscles in his forearms bulge as he taps his fingers against his bare skin, repeating the same sequence over and over again. Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap. The torturous drumbeat to accompany the equally excruciating events that he knows is about to follow. "That's cute and all, but you do know that you legitimately can't ignore me, right?"

Still, he doesn't respond, instead choosing to divert his attention to the girl lying motionless on the ground in front of him. His jaw clenches as he tries to look anywhere but at the ragged bullet-hole that so callously ripped her life away.

Again.

The tan-skinned man follows his gaze, and his eyebrows shoot up even higher. "A bullet this time? That's.... Boring. Now I owe Horus a phoenix."

"Boring?" He echoes, finally meeting the other man's gaze. He speaks in a low tone. "You bet on how she would die? Is this amusing to you?"