Under the Frozen Stars

The biting wind tore at Adelina’s face as she trudged through the snow, each step heavier than the last. Her breath fogged in the air, her pulse racing as she fought to keep her footing. In the distance, the village lights flickered dimly, offering a hope that felt too distant, too fragile. Though her fur-lined coat shielded her from the worst of the cold, it did nothing to soothe the turmoil rising inside her. Every footstep behind her was a reminder—the man she loved was fading away.

She glanced back, her heart clenching as she saw Viktor riding away on his white horse, vanishing toward the dark line of trees at the edge of the forest. The moonlight caught the gleam of the sword slung across his back, the final mark of the man he was bound to be—a soldier, a protector, but not hers. Not anymore.

Her throat tightened as she whispered his name, barely louder than the wind. "Viktor..." It hurt to speak, knowing her voice would never reach him. He had made his choice. And now, under the blanket of stars they once shared, he was leaving her behind.

In those stolen weeks, their love had been everything. He had belonged to her in moments—moments by the fire, or by the frozen riverbank, or in the quiet warmth of her father’s clinic. They had promised each other everything beneath the northern sky. But promises were fragile things, and now those whispered vows felt as distant as the stars above.

Viktor’s future was already written. He was betrothed to someone else, someone his family had chosen, someone who could offer him a life that Adelina never could. He had told her goodbye earlier that night, kissing her forehead as the fire flickered between them. His words haunted her: “I will always love you, but I can’t choose you.”

The finality of it hit her now, the weight of his words crashing down as she stood alone in the snow. Her legs buckled, and she sank to her knees, the cold numbing her skin. But it wasn’t the chill that hurt—it was watching the man she loved disappear into the night, leaving behind nothing but the fading imprint of his horse’s hooves.

She gazed up at the stars, her breath shallow and ragged. She had always believed love could conquer anything. But here, in the unforgiving winter night, she realized that love wasn’t always enough. Some battles couldn’t be won, and some dreams couldn’t survive the weight of reality.

A shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see her father, his eyes heavy with the kind of understanding only time could bring. He knelt beside her, his arms wrapping around her shoulders. “Come inside, Adelina,” he murmured, his voice soft with both love and sadness. “The night is too cold for you to stay.”

“I can’t... I can’t let him go,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. Her tears froze against her skin as she stared at the place where Viktor had vanished.

Her father’s grip tightened. “He’s already gone, child. You have to let him go, or you’ll lose yourself.”

His words were like a knife, but she knew they were true. Viktor’s path had led him away, and no amount of love could change the road he had to walk. Slowly, Adelina rose to her feet, her legs trembling as her father helped her stand. Together, they turned back toward the village, the warmth of home calling her away from the cold. But even as she walked, a piece of her heart stayed behind, frozen in the snow with the memory of the man she could never hold onto.

At the village gate, she glanced back one last time, whispering a final goodbye to the past, to the love she had shared beneath the frozen stars.

And though she turned away, her heart would forever carry the weight of that northern sky, a sky that had seen her love, and her loss.