~🖤The Crimson Oath

 

 

"Perhaps only the blade has ever stayed true… and I, forever bound to its steel." 

He was no stranger to bloodshed.
Sir Aelric of Blackmoor had waged over two dozen wars, crossed burning fields, toppled tyrants, and stared death in the eye more times than memory could hold. He was a tempest in armor — yet in matters of the heart, he was merely a man lost in longing.

In his youth, he loved Princess Eirena — radiant and cruel, whose lips whispered devotion while her eyes craved conquest.
She used him.
She carried his child, only to purge it from existence before it ever breathed air.
Then sent mercenaries to bury him in the dark.
But he lived.
He slew them all… and when he stood above her, sword raised in wrath, his heart betrayed his vengeance — and he spared her life.

Years passed.
Hope flickered anew when he met Lady Aveline, a noblewoman fleeing torment.
She had four children from a tyrant past, and Aelric… he raised them like his own, watched their laughter light the halls, guarded their dreams with sleepless nights.

But death took her from him, slowly, painfully.
And the silence she left behind was a cruelty no blade could match.

Then came the girl with fire in her smile.
A short tale. A beautiful lie.
She left too.

Now… only the war remains.

 

 The Present Hour…

 

The battlefield was silent before the storm.
His enemies — those who betrayed him, those who took and never gave — they stood, united against him. Dozens. Maybe hundreds.

He looked to his sword.
Its edge had never faltered.

"Maybe you are the only one who never left," he murmured.

Behind him stood his men — loyal, fierce, eyes burning with the will to die for him.

He turned.

"Brothers…" he said, his voice thunder over the hills, "today we do not fight for kings or crowns. We fight for every vow broken, every love lost, every truth buried in ash."

He raised his blade.
The sky wept fire.
The battle began.

 ✦ The Knight’s Letter to His Heart ✦ 

 

Here I stand, my heart... after everything.
No princess remained, no vow endured, no kiss awaited me at the edge of dusk.
I fought battles not for land, but for faces that betrayed me,
For names I whispered alone through endless nights.

I thought love was a sword I could wield —
But it was a blade they drove into my back whenever I turned seeking embrace.
I gave... and all that returned was the wind, reminding me of who I once was.
I cared for children not mine, watched over women who never knew nobility.
And I believed that in every heartbreak there was a lesson —
But these lessons are heavier than what a soul, wearied by longing, can carry.

Forgive me, heart,
For being hard when I should have been tender,
And tender when I should have been steel.
Forgive me for loving them more than I ever loved you,
And for believing in promises when only the sword told the truth.

Now… I ride into my final battle.
Not for them.
Not for glory.
But for you —
To prove that something within me still deserves to live... even if it costs blood.

And if I never return,
Let this lament bear witness
That once there was a knight who loved, who believed, who was betrayed...
Yet never betrayed."

 ✦ The Last Knight’s Lament ✦ 

 

— A Gothic Elegy at the Edge of War — 

O my sword, my faithful one through fire and despair,
You never faltered, nor did your heartbeat ever tear.
I held you when comrades turned to mist,
And still believed that in your edge, no lie could dare exist.

I loved them all as if I were a flame in falling snow,
Gave them my heart — to her who vowed, but let it go.
Raised the child she never bore,
And gave the broken widows more than fate would ever show.

Yet now… I beg no love from lips that speak in smoke,
From paths that reek of silence, of promises that broke.
O heart, the pact we held with truth is washed away,
And all I am is shadowed grief that walks the lightless way.

Now I descend to war, like ghost of kings long slain,
In every cry, in every wound, in every whispered name.
And should I fall… then tell the world I bowed to none—
My heart was lost in love...
But my blade outshone the sun.

 🔥 Share This Tale…

 If you felt the ache of this cursed knight's heart, if you believe in love that burns deeper than betrayal — share this story with others, and let darkness find its beauty in our brokenness