Chapter 1
Eli
Everything was perfectly still—except for the slow swirl of white mist drifting between the trees, rising from the ground like silent ghosts. Their silvery-green leaves did not so much as tremble. No birdsong. No wind. No sign of life at all.
Beyond the sound of his own breathing, there was only silence.
“Come find me…”
The voice was soft and musical, echoing from somewhere deep within the mist.
“Where are you?” he called, wincing at the harsh edge of his voice in this too-quiet place. He didn’t belong here. This place felt untouched—wrong for something as loud and human as him.
No answer came.
Barefoot against the cool, damp earth, he moved forward. Every tree looked the same. The mist thickened with every step, curling around his legs, his chest—until his heart began to pound.
What if he couldn’t find her?
What if he was meant to wander here forever?
He didn’t understand how he knew—but he did.
Whoever that voice belonged to… she needed him.
Desperately.
Am I dead?
The thought came unbidden.
No. He pushed it away. He wasn’t dead.
…was he?
“Come find me…”
Closer this time.
Without thinking, he ran.
Branches blurred past him, the mist parting just enough to guide him forward. He didn’t know where he was going—only that he had to reach her.
The trees fell away.
The mist thinned.
And suddenly, he stood at the edge of a shallow, babbling brook.
Across the water, perched on a smooth stone, sat a young woman.
She was… breathtaking.
Golden hair spilled down her back like liquid sunlight, nearly to her waist. A white dress drifted softly around her, stirred by a breeze he couldn’t feel.
As though sensing him, she lifted her head.
“I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you to find me,” she said, her voice warm with quiet amusement. “I was starting to worry.”
Her smile was gentle—comforting in a way that made his chest ache—and her eyes… deep sapphire, endless, as if they held the night sky itself.
“Who are you?” he asked, stepping into the brook. “Where am I?”
She rose, moving toward him—not walking, not quite floating—her feet barely disturbing the water’s surface.
“All your questions will be answered in time.”
He couldn’t look away.
“We don’t have much time,” she continued softly, stopping just in front of him. “I have to send you back.”
Back? What did she mean back?
“I’m sending someone to you,” she said. “For safekeeping.”
His brow furrowed. “Who? Safe from what?”
“Protect her,” she whispered, her voice suddenly more urgent. “Take care of her. Keep her safe until it’s time.”
“I—”
Gold eyes flashed in his mind, framed in auburn waves that made his heart beat, threatening to run away in his chest. He felt drawn to the owner of those eyes in a way he couldn’t explain. Like he knew them from somewhere and just couldn’t place it.
This strange woman, before him, touched her hand lightly against his chest.
“There’s no time,” she murmured.
Pain exploded through him—white-hot, blinding—
And the world shattered
Elijah Brooks woke with a gasp.
Adrianna
A warm breeze stirred the ends of her long auburn hair.
Overhead, delicate pink petals drifted from the trees, dancing through the air before settling across the glassy surface of the reflecting pool. Adrianna sat alone at its edge, watching the large orange koi glide beneath the water—slow, steady, untouched by the weight pressing down on her chest.
In her hands, she held a golden circlet, shaped from intertwining vines.
A gift for her eighteenth birthday.
Not long after that, her father had fallen ill.
At first, the castle had been flooded with healers and physicians—summoned from every corner of Valeria. None had been able to help. Now, more than two years later, hope had withered into something quiet and unspoken.
He slept more often than he woke.
And when he did wake… he was fading.
She missed the way things used to be terribly. The way that there were once two of them guiding the affairs of Valeria. The way he smiled proudly at her as she held her own in council meetings against those who felt she couldn’t lead this country when it was her time.
She sighed heavily.
Deep down, she knew.
It would not be long before he joined her mother.
Adrianna exhaled slowly, her fingers tightening around the circlet as her thoughts shifted—unwillingly—to the reports waiting for her.
For months, there had been whispers of unrest.
At first, nothing more than idle talk—servants murmuring, merchants complaining. Easy to dismiss.
But now…
Those whispers had found their way into letters from the eastern territories. What had once been a passing concern had sharpened into something harder to ignore.
Something urgent.
Her younger twin brother had left two weeks ago to investigate.
Commander of their father’s armies. Trusted. Capable.
And now… gone.
His last letter had arrived weeks ago. Since then—nothing.
His last known destination: Varrow’s Gate.
A trading city beyond the Eastern Mountains—dangerous, unruly, and far from the reach of easy control. Merchants travelled there armed and guarded. She had never been permitted to go. She had begged once—pleaded, even—, but her father had refused.
Now he was too weak to forbid her.
And still… she had not gone.
His warning lingered, heavy and unshakable.
It felt wrong to defy him. Even now.
Still, Adrianna struggled to believe it was anything more than unrest. Discontent. Noise.
Closing her eyes, she tilted her face toward the dappled sunlight, willing the tension from her shoulders.
Just for a moment.
Just a breath.
Then, with practiced grace, she placed the circlet back upon her head. The familiar weight settled against her brow as she rose, the dark green silk of her skirts whispering around her legs.
Duty waited.
It always did.
In the quiet of her father’s study, she poured herself a measure of amber brandy into a crystal tumbler.
The decanter was never empty—Gregson made sure of that.
“Goddess bless Gregson,” she murmured under her breath, a faint smile touching her lips as she settled into the chair behind the carved oak desk.
Fatigue lingered in her bones as she took in the fresh stack of papers that had appeared in her brief absence.
Of course it had.
She picked up the first, eyes scanning it before setting it aside. The next. And the next.
Marriage proposals.
From lords. From kings. From men she had never met.
Her expression hardened.
Adrianna took a long sip of brandy, letting the burn ground her.
Marriage was not her priority.
“Pardon me, Your Highness.”
She looked up to find Gregson standing in the doorway.
“Yes?”
“Your father is awake,” he said gently. “He is asking for you.”
Her heart stuttered.
Adrianna was on her feet before he had finished speaking, rushing past him into the corridor.
Golden evening light streamed through the arched windows as she gathered her skirts and ran, the sharp echo of her heels ringing against polished marble.
