Huston simply wanted me to beg for forgiveness, to promise I'd willingly stay by his side as a nameless, insignificant servant woman, never to leave.
I shook my head bitterly.
"No. Please, do not ask again."
He glanced at me in shock, scoffed, and left with his sword.
When hunger became unbearable for everyone, I asked someone to bring me paper and ink.
I coughed while writing by the dim light of a kerosene lamp.
I wrote about how Huston and I met, how we came to know and love each other.
I wrote about how we fought side by side, resisting the former Empress's attempts to destroy us.
I wrote about my five years of imprisonment, enduring suffering and torment, surviving those endless nights only by holding onto a single scrap of his words.
I wrote about the beautiful dreams I had for our future, hoping to win his heart and grow old together.
How simple my wish was.
Yet the world changes, as do hearts.
All the love and sincerity I once gave had been repaid with, "Ah, how easily the heart of an old friend changes."
Tears fell as I wrote.
I handed the folded letter to the head guard, asking him to deliver it to the Emperor.
The next day, Huston, with tears in his eyes, lifted my confinement.