The Queen's judgment echoed through the palace for days.
Harrington's arrest had shaken the kingdom, but victory quickly curdled into unease.
Whispers filled the corridors — of treason, of forbidden affection, of a prince who chose a soldier's daughter over the crown itself.
Evelyn walked through the courtyard that morning with her head held high, but each bow from the guards felt like pity, not respect. The air was heavy with rumors.
By dusk, Edward came to her chambers. His uniform was gone; he wore a plain traveler's coat. His eyes — once calm — now burned with quiet determination.
"They're moving against us," he said. "The council wants to exile you. They claim it's for your safety."
Evelyn's chest tightened. "Safety? Or silence?"
He gave a bitter smile. "Both."
He moved closer, lowering his voice. "My mother tried to hold them back, but even she can't defy the council openly. They want me to renounce you — to declare that our bond was manipulation, not love."
Her voice broke. "And will you?"
Edward reached out, taking her hand. "I would rather lose my title than my truth."
Evelyn looked at him — the man who had risked everything to stand beside her. Her heart ached with both gratitude and fear. "If you defy them, they'll take more than your title."
He smiled faintly. "Then let them. They can strip a prince of his crown, but not of his heart."
They stood in silence as the light faded. The garden below shimmered under the moon, the same garden where she had first met him months ago — before the secrets, before the lies, before love became a battle.
Evelyn whispered, "What happens now?"
Edward took a deep breath. "You'll be escorted beyond the border at dawn. They've given you safe passage to the coast. It's exile… but I'll make sure you're not alone."
Her eyes widened. "You can't come with me. The kingdom—"
"The kingdom can wait," he said softly. "For once in my life, I will choose for myself."
That night, they escaped the palace together.
The rain had stopped again, leaving the roads slick under the silver of the moon. Evelyn's cloak fluttered behind her as they rode through the dark fields — two fugitives bound not by duty, but by choice.
They stopped at the edge of the border hills before dawn.
The sea stretched before them — endless and calm.
Edward turned to her, his hand brushing hers. "I don't know what waits beyond this shore. But wherever it is, I want it with you."
Evelyn swallowed hard. "And if they come for you?"
He smiled. "Then they'll find a man who finally lived."
She rested her forehead against his, the wind catching her hair. "Then promise me one thing — no matter what happens, don't forget who you are."
He whispered, "Only if you promise to remind me."
As the first light of dawn broke across the horizon, they stood together — two hearts against a kingdom, two souls bound by the promise that love, even in exile, could be its own kind of freedom.