As Charlotte had stated with a dream in her eyes, it truly seemed like the top of the world. But Micah found only an empty myth.

  His legs dangled over the edge of the stone column, and he cast a tired gaze over the city of Astenbury as it glowed all around him, lighting up the night sky. From the top of the city’s Blessing Pole, thousands of feet high, he could see far and wide. Everything was within sight… except an answer.

  After hours of climbing, hours of struggling against hurricane winds, and fatigue, and the monumental pain within his heart, he finally reached the summit of the massive pole. But when he stood and looked up to the heavens, nothing happened. And when he called out for help, for a wish… for something to liberate him, nothing came.

  And so he sat, and he waited. He didn’t really believe something would happen, but he was unwilling to return. The winds churning around the pole granted some reprieve, as they were so loud, it was nearly painful. Even so, Micah couldn’t stop thinking about Charlotte.

  He stroked the end of his scarf, remembering their brief journey. She taught him so much about life, and despite endless pursuit by enemies who would see her dead, she never failed to smile. She called Micah a good man, even when he didn’t believe it. She saved his life. Yet, here he sat, incapable of accepting she could find happiness elsewhere.

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  So this is what they call selfishness.

  She cried in front of him, but this time, it had been his fault. Regardless of the humiliation he suffered, he didn’t want that. Perhaps, he just misunderstood what was happening. Perhaps her exchange with Jasper had been normal. In either case, the matter at hand was clear.

  He could never be with Charlotte. Not the way he desired. They were too different, and they both needed far different things.

  A particularly strong wind rushed around his body in that moment. His scarf whipped back, unraveling from around his neck and snatched up by the wind. He reached out to grab it, but in a moment the scarf was gone, caught up in the torrent. And just like that, his lovely gift from Charlotte was taken from him.

  Micah’s arm fell, and his head drooped.

  I know what I have to do.

  Yet, despite knowing, Micah looked up into the starry sky one last time. He had climbed Astenbury’s Blessing Pole, wondering and hoping if the rumors were true. Was it at all possible?

  “I wish… for this pain to go away,” he said.

  His wish was not granted.