Crown of Ash and Starlight

The metallic tang of iron mixed with burning sulfur hung heavy in the back of my throat, the fading bitter taste of my own death.

I opened my eyes, expecting the icy, lightless abyss of the Nether Realm. Instead, my vision was filled with an extravagant crystal chandelier hanging from a vaulted ceiling. Dainty silk sheets clung to my skin—skin that was impossibly smooth, pale, and entirely devoid of the jagged battle scars I had earned over a decade of blood and steel.

I sat up, gasping as a sharp wave of dizziness washed over me. I pressed my hands to my ribs. No gaping dagger wound. No pool of warm blood.

“My lady! Thank the heavens you are conscious!” A young maid burst through the heavy oak doors, clutching a silver basin. Her knees trembled as she bowed. “Please, Lady Vespera, you must let us dress you immediately. Grand Marshal Cassian has already entered the courtyard. If you keep him waiting...”

Vespera.

The name rattled inside my mind like a loose coin. I was no longer Shadow, the feared blade of the Night Guild who had killed kings from the dark. I had died in an ambush three nights ago, sold out by my own Guildmaster. And now, my soul was trapped in the fragile, sickly body of Vespera Vance—the illegitimate, pushover daughter of a disgraced noble house.

A low, resonant voice echoed from the hallway outside, slicing through the panicked chatter of the servants with absolute authority.

“Tell her she has two minutes,” the voice commanded. Cold, smooth, and laced with absolute power. “Or I will drag her to the altar in her nightgown.”

My heart gave a sudden, violent thud against my chest.

Cassian Thorne.

The Grand Marshal of the High Order. The righteous holy knight who had spent five relentless years chasing me across three continents, leaving half my underground network in ashes. My ultimate enemy.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. My new limbs felt unnaturally light, completely devoid of muscle memory or martial strength. So, my greedy father is sacrificing his sickly daughter to placate the Grand Marshal?

A faint, lethal smile touched my new lips as I looked at my reflection in the gilded mirror. Cassian thought he was marrying a broken, docile noble doll to settle a political debt. He had no idea he was opening his front door to the very phantom he had failed to catch in life.