All that once glittered was gold until it turned to bitter ash and ruin. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Life has never been kind to the likes of Juliette Laurant. Tortured by flowers with each failure that arises, and a voice or two spewing poison into her ears, she's more well known for her oddities than she is as an artist, but if she had her way, she would seclude herself to the forest and create paintings till the end of her days. But when an eccentric earl comes calling for a well seasoned artist, it's hard for Juliette not to leap into the unknown without questioning his motives first. With years of trauma and a dash of magic lurking beneath the surface, Juliette has plenty of secrets of her own that she'd rather have stay buried, but will the ever persuasive Cole Roswell convince her to leave the past behind? Or will she bury herself along with the life she thought she'd live? Only Fate will tell.

A society to save or a civilization to destroy... Arya Saravel has always been in search of the truth, whether that be for the years of history she works to uncover with a group of avid archaeologists, or for the past that is always slipping so quickly between her fingers. The deserts call to her, promising fame and fortune beyond imagination, but what treasure she finds within the dunes of Heryan reveals a much more sinister plot to their excavations than she had previously thought. With her teams' lives on the line and time running out to save her family's legacy, how far is Arya willing to go to make her mark on history? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* // Short-Listed in the Open Novella Contest '25 //

This story was an entry in Target's OnceUpon Contest, because of this, and a 10,000 word limit all together, it is a lot faster than most stories. If you aren't into a really quick and fast paced story I suggest looking at some of my other stories. Thank you! ~*~*~*~*~*~ Untouchable... Unloved... Unwanted... Ugly. By societies standards, Elizabeth Steele is a low life with no worth. She has no home, no money, no life. No value. Moving from alley to alley every night, scavenging through the streets, she keeps her own and stays away from anyone in anyway that she can, using her mask of imperfections to ward off any unwanted attention. Simplicity is her armor and detachment is her sword. But how long can she go on before being an outcast becomes too much and the walls she's devoted her time to building come crashing down? Glass is only so fragile as the one thing it's supporting, and when Elizabeth's heart is so delicate that all that is left to protect it is a clear and thin sheet of glass, there is no telling when or how quickly it will break. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Highest Ranking #6 in Short Story