It was in the orchard where fate first tugged the threads of their story together.

Elysia had slipped beyond the manor walls at dawn, her bare feet brushing dew from the grass, her hands stained with earth and ash. She liked it there, beneath the boughs where no one called her Cinder-girl, where the curse’s tug was softer and the world was her own. She was gathering wild herbs when a sudden crack of power split the morning air.

A blinding radiance flared across the grove, scattering birds like shards of shadow. Startled, Elysia shielded her eyes—only to see a young man sprawled among the roots of an oak, wings of light flickering unsteadily at his back.

Lucian.

He cursed under his breath, golden sparks sputtering from his hands as though the magic itself had rebelled. The oak behind him bore a blackened scar where lightning had struck, though no storm touched the skies.

Elysia’s heart leapt into her throat. Any other girl might have fled, crossing herself or bowing low before such dangerous, angelic power. But Elysia only tilted her head, clutching her basket close.
“You nearly set yourself on fire,” she said, voice dry. “Should I fetch water, or will your holiness put it out himself?”

Lucian blinked up at her, startled by the lack of awe in her tone. “Do you—do you know who I am?” His voice carried the command of one accustomed to obedience.

“No,” Elysia answered simply, kneeling to inspect the scorched grass. “Should I?”

He bristled. “I am Lucian, son of King Thalor, heir to the throne, chosen protector of—”

She interrupted, brushing soot from her skirts. “—the boy who can’t handle his own magic without falling out of trees?”

For the first time in his life, Lucian was struck speechless. Then, to his own horror, he laughed—a sharp, surprised sound that startled even him.

Elysia straightened, her violet eyes gleaming with something he could not place. She was not afraid of his light, nor cowed by his name. Instead, she looked at him as though she saw the boy beneath the power.

And though he would never admit it aloud, Lucian found that more disarming than any blade.