It had taken only two days for Li's life to change completely and irrevocably. He could still see the face of his dead beloved when he closed his eyes. And so he had not slept in two days, not since they had pulled him away from his body, screaming and sobbing and covered in his blood from cradling him and begging his departed spirit to please, please return.

The town magistrate had not believed him when he'd repeatedly stated he had found Ash laying there on the floor.

"Where is the weapon you used to kill him?"

"I did not kill him," Li stated.

"Why did you kill him?"

"I did not kill him," he repeated. "I loved him."

Catanere had not even pretended to mourn when she spoke to the magistrate before Li. "He simply must have gone mad with grief when Ash told him he would not end our marriage, though he had planned to. Perhaps you should be lenient with him. I know he did love Ash, and he is so young. Perhaps sentence him to labor on Ash's estate. There is always much work to do in the grain fields, or with the livestock. Perhaps even as a servant of the house."

Had Li been rested and less overwhelmed with grief he might have seen through her plot, but he was simply numb to the proceedings. He wanted nothing but to hold Ash, living again, in his arms.

Had he been rested and thoughtful he might have understood the reservation the magistrate clearly felt, and understood it to be the reason for his sentence.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Two years in the fleet. He will be remanded to the next privateer to make the port of Baylay."

And so Li sat in a small, cold cell and awaited transport to the coast. He did not wish to sail with the fleet of privateers any more or less than he wished to serve on Ash's estate for his window. What he wanted was for all to be as it had been only three days before, when Ash had promised he was ending his marriage to the overbearing and demanding Catarene. She would be removed from the estate. Though in the country of Mahlon Li would not be able to marry Ash himself, they would live without issue on the vast estate, growing grains of various types to sell across the country, and even to others outside it.

His gaze was caught by Catarene standing at the bars of his cell. She stared at him, a gloating expression to her otherwise lovely face. Her golden hair was piled high on her head and her bright green eyes were sparkling. She wore a black mourning dress, though the neckline dipped a little low for one supposedly mourning her husband's death. Li had been told she was one of the most beautiful women in all Mahlon. Li thought her treatment of Ash made her the ugliest.

"I warned you that you would have no sway over him," she gloated. "I told you he would die before leaving me."

A faint idea came to Li's tired mind, the idea that perhaps she had killed him herself when he had told her he was ending the marriage. Perhaps she had done what she accused him of doing.

The decision had been made. There was nothing left for Li to do but accept it.

"It isn't what I wanted for you," she continued. "I wanted you to see how I changed and took control of his estate. I wanted you to be reminded each day when you woke that I am and forever will be his wife. You are nothing. To him and to me. But now you may find death swiftly on the sea. Perhaps you will fall from the mast, or drown. Perhaps you will face fire or sword. Even disease is quite common I hear. I've heard legends of sea monsters and the power of the sea in a storm."

She giggled as she turned away. "I will dream of it every night for you."

When she was gone, Li continued to stare at the place where she had been. He was too exhausted to feel fear or worry. Were he to die, after all, he would join his lover again.