Prologue
“The child of night shall awaken…
Her blood will bear the mark of fire,
Her soul, the weight of shadows.
Through her, the lost crown shall rise—
or fall into ruin forever.”
Long before she was born, a kingdom fell to ash.
Once, its black towers pierced the endless dark, crowned with fire and shadow. Once, its people bowed to a king and queen who ruled with power older than time. But darkness does not wait forever. It came like a storm, swallowing their walls, their voices, their very lives.
When the smoke cleared, only ruin remained.
And a prophecy.
They whispered it through the ruins, passed it in dying breaths: a child of night will rise when the kingdom is no more. She will be marked in blood and bound by shadows. Through her, the forgotten crown will return… or be lost forever.
Dream did not know she carried that legacy.
Not when she laughed beneath the sun.
Not when she lived an ordinary life, sheltered by parents who were not her own.
But destiny is patient.
It waited for her twelfth birthday. It waited for the hour the moon rose highest. And it struck—blue eyes in the dark, burning claws across her skin, a mark that would never fade.
The past was never gone.
It was only waiting.
