The Girl Beneath the Lantern Market
Chapter One
The Girl Beneath the Lantern Market
The first time Kael saw her, she was stealing moonlight.
Not metaphorically.
Actually stealing it.
The lantern market beneath the cliffs of Jozi buzzed with midnight life—fae and doba doba merchants bartering memories for gold, witches selling bottled storms, musicians plucking silver-string harps that made the air shimmer like water. Above them, seven floating moons glowed over the kingdom like watchful eyes.
And in the middle of the chaos stood a girl in a dark green cloak, holding out her hand to the sky.
The moonlight bent toward her.
Kael froze.
Because moonbinding magic had been forbidden for four hundred years.
Because every person born with it had been slaughtered by the Crown.
Because the last moonbinder was the reason his father died.
The silver glow spiraled around the girl’s fingers like silk ribbons before sinking into a tiny glass vial at her hip. She moved quickly afterward, tucking it away beneath her cloak.
No one else noticed.
But Kael did.
Of course he did.
Hunters were trained to notice impossible things.
“Problem?” asked Dain beside him, chewing roasted chestnuts like they weren’t currently surrounded by enough illegal magic to start a war.
Kael’s jaw tightened. “Someone’s using forbidden power.”
Dain nearly choked. “Here?”
The girl vanished into the crowd before Kael could answer.
Instinct took over.
He shoved through the market, ignoring curses thrown his way as he followed flashes of green fabric between glowing stalls. She moved like smoke—fast, graceful, impossible to catch.
Interesting.
No one escaped him.
Not anymore.
She darted down an alley lined with enchanted mirrors. Kael followed, boots splashing through rainwater that reflected constellations instead of the sky.
Dead end.
Or it should’ve been.
The girl stood at the brick wall calmly, hood still shadowing her face.
Kael drew the dagger strapped to his side.
“You’re either brave,” he said coldly, “or incredibly stupid.”
A soft laugh escaped her.
Neither.
The voice hit him strangely. Warm. Smooth. Familiar in a way that made no sense.
“I saw what you did,” he continued. “Moonbinding is treason.”
“And hunting strangers in alleyways isn’t concerning behavior to you?”
Kael ignored that. “Who taught you?”
Silence.
Rain dripped from rooftops.
Then finally—
“No one taught me,” she said quietly. “I was born this way.”
Kael’s stomach turned.
Impossible.
Moonbinders were extinct.
The kingdom made sure of it.
He stepped closer. “Take off the hood.”
For a moment, she didn’t move.
Then slowly—almost reluctantly—she lifted her hands.
The hood fell back.
Kael forgot how to breathe.
Dark curls framed sharp golden-brown skin kissed by moonlight. Her eyes—
Her eyes were silver.
Not grey.
Silver.
Ancient silver.
The mark of royal blood.
The mark of the lost House of Selene.
The dead royal family.
Kael staggered back a step before he could stop himself.
“No…” he whispered.
The girl’s expression changed instantly.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Like she knew him too.
Which was impossible.
“I know who you are,” she breathed.
Before Kael could speak, the entire alley exploded with blue fire.
The wall behind her shattered open.
Masked soldiers poured through the smoke.
Royal Executioners.
Oh, hell.
“FOUND HER!” one shouted.
The girl cursed under her breath. “They tracked me.”
Kael should have handed her over immediately.
That was his duty.
His purpose.
His revenge.
Instead, without understanding why, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him as arrows split the rain.
“Run.”
