They had provided themselves enough distance to separate themselves from the god they agitated, their path leading them to the woodlands. Alistair walked silently even when Ashetta apologized. How many apologies had he heard before? How many times had he awoken to the same ordeal?
"Part of what kept us together was my profound trust in you Ashetta...trust to look past who you were, because I believed the good in you could be saved. I believed I could have saved you from the darkness...perhaps it was selfish to think so, perhaps my pride blinded me from what others saw, what you kept revealing to me."
His hand rested against a tree as he shook his head. "I was a fool...a hopeless optimistic...when in reality not everyone wants to be saved. You shared your body, your heart, your soul...and I shared mine with you...I figured that to be enough. Enough to bring you peace, to bring you purpose...but the truth is it was never enough, it was just good enough for that time."
He turned and looked to Ashetta "I trusted you...I believed in you...I loved you more than anything in this world. I would have followed you through hellfire, if you had just allowed me to do so. You say you're sorry but you'll only continue this pattern, we both know this...I will not be made a fool, not anymore."
Alistair reached and removed his rings, both of them. "You don't want happiness Ashetta, you don't want me...you are incapable of such things. Only pain drives you, pain and anger, and misery are the trinity...your truest loves, and your heart, soul, and body belong to them. Not me, perhaps they always did."
He would walk over and place them in her hands. "I won't let you hurt me, you won't break me...all this time believing you were protecting me, you never stopped to see you were doing the opposite. I won't be broken, never again...not even by you. You go on, live the life you always desired. You're free."
With that Alistair turned and began walking away. His breath was steady, his words eerily calm and resolute, though his heart burned nearly through his chest. He was a man exhausted, and worn beyond his means. He was resolute that it was not he who gave up on her, but she who gave up on him.
His eyes closed as he widened their distance. It was the most painful decision he had ever made...but one he felt he needed to, because it would only lead to darker roads...he wanted to preserve what good he still saw in her while it was still there, before Ashetta further tarnished herself.
Had she spoken in protest it would do little to break his momentum, he knew it would be merely instinctual, he knew the path she was forging for herself...and he didn't stand a chance against it. It was simply...better this way, he convinced himself. Yes...better this way.
"Part of what kept us together was my profound trust in you Ashetta...trust to look past who you were, because I believed the good in you could be saved. I believed I could have saved you from the darkness...perhaps it was selfish to think so, perhaps my pride blinded me from what others saw, what you kept revealing to me."
His hand rested against a tree as he shook his head. "I was a fool...a hopeless optimistic...when in reality not everyone wants to be saved. You shared your body, your heart, your soul...and I shared mine with you...I figured that to be enough. Enough to bring you peace, to bring you purpose...but the truth is it was never enough, it was just good enough for that time."
He turned and looked to Ashetta "I trusted you...I believed in you...I loved you more than anything in this world. I would have followed you through hellfire, if you had just allowed me to do so. You say you're sorry but you'll only continue this pattern, we both know this...I will not be made a fool, not anymore."
Alistair reached and removed his rings, both of them. "You don't want happiness Ashetta, you don't want me...you are incapable of such things. Only pain drives you, pain and anger, and misery are the trinity...your truest loves, and your heart, soul, and body belong to them. Not me, perhaps they always did."
He would walk over and place them in her hands. "I won't let you hurt me, you won't break me...all this time believing you were protecting me, you never stopped to see you were doing the opposite. I won't be broken, never again...not even by you. You go on, live the life you always desired. You're free."
With that Alistair turned and began walking away. His breath was steady, his words eerily calm and resolute, though his heart burned nearly through his chest. He was a man exhausted, and worn beyond his means. He was resolute that it was not he who gave up on her, but she who gave up on him.
His eyes closed as he widened their distance. It was the most painful decision he had ever made...but one he felt he needed to, because it would only lead to darker roads...he wanted to preserve what good he still saw in her while it was still there, before Ashetta further tarnished herself.
Had she spoken in protest it would do little to break his momentum, he knew it would be merely instinctual, he knew the path she was forging for herself...and he didn't stand a chance against it. It was simply...better this way, he convinced himself. Yes...better this way.
