XXXVI

Isaac POV

As one who submitted to the powers of fate, I spent a long time researching the meaning behind names in my younger days. You quickly saw a pattern - a name was almost a prophecy in and of itself. Margaret, my Princess’s given name, means pearl. A pearl is a gem developed from dirt, grime, and bacteria, but is traumatized into a coveted thing of beauty.

I stared down at my pearl, my gift borne of darkness, disgusted with everything about her. The half lives that brought her into existence, the turmoil that polished her edges, and the trauma that made her beautiful.

She was everything I wanted, and everything I couldn’t have.

The new prophecy left no room for negotiation. We would not be mates. I had failed her in that regard. There had been twenty three eclipses over her lifetime, and the only time I searched her out and gave us the opportunity to fulfill our fate, I left, so certain there would be another chance with better timing. If I had not been so dumb and blind,