Chapter 1
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CHAPTER ONE — The Morning After ✨
I woke up with the faint smell of yesterday’s birthday cake still clinging to my fingers. Eighteen.
It didn’t feel any different from seventeen… except maybe a little heavier. A little louder.
Like the world was asking, “So what now?” and I hadn’t exactly figured out the answer.
By the time I reached the palace, the sun was just catching on the white stone walls, turning them gold. My mother had already rushed ahead—being the queen’s personal assistant meant mornings began before most people even remembered their own names.
I slipped through the side passage I’d used since I was a child, the one place where the guards no longer bothered stopping me. And just like always, someone was already waiting.
Hale leaned against the pillar, arms crossed, pretending he’d been patient.
He hadn’t. He never was. His blue eyes gave him away instantly—bright, restless, impossible to ignore. 💙
“Finally,” he said. “You’re late. Again.”
“I turned eighteen yesterday, not ancient,” I replied. “My legs still work.”
He smirked and pushed a small box toward me. It wasn’t wrapped neatly—Hale had many talents, and neatness wasn’t one of them.
“Happy birthday, Enora,” he said. “Properly, this time.”
I opened it carefully… and stopped.
Inside lay a dagger—light, elegant, silver-edged. The handle was carved with swirling designs and set with tiny blue stones that caught the light like drops of frozen rain. ✨
“Hale…” I whispered. “This is—”
“—sharp,” he said immediately. “So don’t go proving anything by cutting your own fingers.”
I shot him a look. “I wasn’t planning to.”
He shrugged, then nudged my shoulder. “But hey… eighteen is a big thing. Got plans? You know—future, work, dreams, disasters?”
I laughed softly. “I don’t know yet. Fate has its own plan over mine. It always does.”
He snorted. “That’s such an Enora answer.”
“Well, it’s true.”
Before either of us could say more, he spotted something behind me and froze.
“Is that… cake?”
His eyes went wide—specifically at the blueberries sprinkled on top. His weakness. The future second prince of the kingdom taken down by tiny blue fruits.
“Wait,” I said quickly, pulling the cake away before he could grab it. “You know the rule. Someone has to taste it before the prince eats.”
“And you know I hate when you call me that,” Hale groaned. “I’ve told you a thousand times—just Hale. I stand in the second row, not on a throne.”
“Still counts.”
He rolled his eyes but grinned anyway.
I sliced the tiniest piece and tasted it dramatically, earning a glare from him. “Safe,” I announced. “You may live another day.”
He grabbed a piece the size of a mountain. “Good. Because I have plans today.”
“Plans?”
“For you,” he said simply. “You’re eighteen now. That’s supposed to mean something, right?”
I stared at him… and for a moment, the world felt oddly still.
~🌷✨
"Fate doesn't shout it whispers."
