“What do you think you’re doing?” Anna huffed as she ran the last few paces, her narrowed eyes dancing between Sienne and Roman. When her gaze landed on the stone, she lunged for it, but Roman held it high, like one child teasing another in the schoolyard.
“Why did you bury this?” he asked.
Anna placed her hands on her hips, mimicking Sienne’s stance. “Just because you bring money and offer to take her hand in marriage doesn’t mean you can ask questions.”
Sienne’s sharp intake of breath twisted Roman’s gut, but he focused on Anna.
“Sienne thought she’d lost this, but you buried it.”
Anna’s face darkened. “Give it to me.” She held out one hand, palm up, nostrils flaring. When Roman didn’t budge, she spoke again. “Sienne, go get your father.”
Sienne obeyed without question, rushing down the path toward their home.
“Happy?” Anna crossed her arms over her chest. “The run is likely to kill her.”
He swallowed down the guilt she’d stirred up. “Sienne said she has only two months to live. But she and I have spent almost every afternoon for the last eight years in these woods. How is that possible?”
Anna scoffed. “We just moved here three days ago.”
“You’ve lived here for at least eight years. I met Sienne when I was ten.”
“That’s impossible.” She lifted her chin. “We moved here a few days ago after we exhausted all our options.” Her eyes grew troubled, and her gaze flicked to the stone.
“Are you sure you exhausted all your options?” Roman asked.
Anna’s face took on a pink hue that was reminiscent of Sienne’s blushes. “My husband wasn’t willing to exhaust every option.”
“But you were?”
Anna pursed her lips and turned away. As the sun snuck behind the tree line, Sienne and her father hurried up the hill.
“This pendant seems like a funny thing to bury on your property right after arriving.” Roman turned it over in his hand. “Especially when Sienne would feel lost without it.”
Sienne and Laban slowed as they approached, Sienne focusing on breathing while her father’s expression grew more wary.
“What was the last option your husband wasn’t willing to exhaust?” Roman let his voice carry as he held up the red stone.
Sienne’s mother twisted her apron and wiped the sweat from her face.
“Anna?” Laban stepped forward, placing a large hand on his wife’s shoulder. “What’s this all about?”
Sienne’s mother sidestepped his grip. “We had to try something. You said we only had prayer left, but I’d already been praying every day of her life.” Her voice broke. “I had to try something.”
Laban’s mouth swung open, but he didn’t speak.
“What did you do?” Roman asked.
Sienne sat on a stump, her face taking on a greyish tinge. Now that he knew she had a heart condition, he thought through all the games they’d played over the years, all the ways he’d put her life at risk without realizing it. He wanted to gather her in his arms and take her back to her home. He wanted to call for the local physician to get a second opinion. How many opinions had they gotten? And how much had the world’s knowledge of her heart condition changed in the last eight years? Because it had been eight years, no matter what lies Anna told.
“I went to the witches,” Anna whispered.
Laban’s shoulders drooped. “Oh, Anna.”
“I couldn’t lose my baby.” Anna’s voice came out harsh, but her husband merely wrapped her in his arms, letting her sob against his chest. “They promised me more time. That’s all I wanted. More time. Just a little more time.”
She repeated the words over and over, the impossible truth sinking in.
“They gave you one last day, over and over,” Roman said. “All of you. For eternity.” That was why her father hadn’t remembered him, why they hadn’t realized something was wrong with Sienne’s memory. They were all under the same curse.
Sienne’s eyes widened as her own understanding dawned. “Is that possible?”
“They’re witches,” Laban grumbled. “Anything is possible.”
“I’ve spent the last eight years watching you live the same day over and over,” Roman said.
Sienne’s hands went to her temples, as if his words pained her.
Anna stepped back. “No. They were supposed to heal you. They said I would have all the time I needed if I placed their spell on your pendant. If I buried it at the edge of the wood. As long as you stay here and keep it off your neck, you’ll get well.”
Roman shut his eyes in relief. “Then the curse can be broken. Sienne just has to wear the necklace once more.” He took tentative steps toward Sienne, then kneeled by her side. “Your mother tried to trick nature, and the witches tricked her instead. Do you understand what this means?”
Sienne nodded, blinking away tears. He reached to wipe a stray one, then cupped her cheek in his hand. Usually it took an afternoon of reading or games for her to warm up, but today she leaned into his touch like she had so many times before, closing her eyes. “You think I should put the necklace back on?”
“No,” her mother cried. “She’ll stay sick. She’ll die.” Anna buried her face in Laban’s chest once more.
Roman studied the stone in his other hand. Sienne only had to put it around her neck, and the strange time loop she was stuck in would stop. She’d be free. Free to remember each new day. Free to age. Free to die.
He wrapped his fingers around the stone, letting its edges dig into his palm. “I don’t know.”
“It’s all right,” Sienne said, placing her hand over his fist. “It gave me far more time than anyone is meant to have, even if I don’t remember it.” She bit her lip, but she turned his hand over, prying his fingers loose.
He let her take the stone, watching as she undid the clasp of her necklace and looped it through the pendant. He took in the high collar of her dress, the pristine stiffness of the material. Something still didn’t add up. Before she placed it back around her neck, Roman circled her wrist with his hand.
“Wait. When did you move here? Do you remember the year?”
She let out a strangled laugh. “Of course. The king’s coronation took place just before we left. The year reset for his reign.”
Roman’s stomach dropped, making him thankful he already kneeled on the ground.
“Which king?” he whispered, though the answer didn’t matter. They hadn’t had a king for decades, at least a century.
“Wendel the Fourth,” her father said.
Roman sat back on his heels, stunned while he tried to do the math. “Five hundred years,” he said. “You’ve repeated this day for five hundred years.”
Even Anna turned around, all three of their faces reflecting the shock undoing Roman.
“What have I done?” Anna whispered.
“Put the stone around your neck.” Laban’s voice came out hoarse. “We’ve cheated time long enough. Tomorrow we’ll face the future.”
Roman tightened his grip on Sienne’s wrist, his mind racing. “The witches intended this to be a trick. But what if we can use it for good?”
“What do you mean?” Sienne asked.
He pulled the necklace from her hand, undoing the clasp and removing the pendant. “It’s been five hundred years since you saw a physician. Medicine has come a long way.”
Sienne and her mother exchanged hopeful glances.
“She can’t leave our property. If she leaves, the spell”—Anna hung her head—“or curse, will be broken.”
Roman closed his eyes, thinking of the time he’d tricked her onto his property. The way she’d felt short of breath and panicked. He’d nearly killed her. “Then I’ll bring someone to her.”
“You want me to wait to break the curse?” Sienne asked.
“Just until you find a cure?” Laban added.
Roman nodded. The silence stretched as each of them contemplated what they were committing to do.
“I won’t remember you,” Sienne said. “We won’t remember this conversation.”
“You won’t remember, but I will.” He would bring every physician to her doorstep, try every test and medicine. He wouldn’t even tell her about the curse again until he’d found a cure, even if he had to go back to school and discover it himself. Even if he was too old to make good on his promise of marriage.
The others nodded their silent assent, and he made his way to the rock, where he buried the stone once more. Laban led a tearful Anna down the moonlit path back to their home, and Sienne glanced shyly between Roman and her parents.
“It’s hard to believe you’ve known me for eight years,” she said.
He closed the distance between them, wiping dirty hands on his trousers before holding them out. She took them without hesitation.
“What kinds of things did we do?” she asked.
He smiled down at her, remembering their childhood games. “We fought and played and laughed. You’re a sore loser, which worked out well enough since you often won.” He nudged her shoulder with his, and she laughed, taking a step closer. His chin bumped her cheek, but before he could pull away and apologize, her whispered question froze him in his steps.
“How many times did we kiss?”
“Outside of greetings on the hand?” Roman breathed the words out, afraid to anticipate where this might go. “None.”
She tilted her head back, gazing up at him. “It doesn’t seem fair to you, having to hold all those memories for both of us, but none of them contains a kiss.”
He moved his hand back to her cheek, letting his thumb caress her soft skin. “It didn’t seem fair to hold such a memory when you wouldn’t share it too.”
She stood on tiptoe, bringing them eye level, letting their breath mingle. “Make sure that when you break the curse, it’s a day I’ve fallen in love with you.”
His eyes dropped to her mouth, watching it part with her impish grin. Then she leaned in, letting their lips brush tenderly before he wrapped his arms around her, crushing her against him. His heart pounded in his ears, the desire he’d held at bay roaring for release, reveling in this small but sweet victory. She kissed him hungrily, as though they’d broken the curse, as if she might die tomorrow. He returned the fervor, letting it fuel his passion for finding her cure.
When they pulled away, every inch of his body tingled, longing for more. Their foreheads rested against each other’s, the heat between them unbearable.
“Tomorrow,” she whispered. “When there’s a tomorrow, we’ll be together again.”