"You have quite the effect on people you know that?" Lyra asked, eyes fixed intently on the prince before her.
"I'm well aware about the others but what about you? Tell me Lyra, I'm dying to know, do you hate me as much as you say you do?" he inquired.
Her breath hitched at the question. How could she possibly answer that?
Of course she didn't hate him.
Every movement he made, every breath he took, every smile that graced his face, was perfect. Her soul yearned for him, her heart palpitated for him, she existed purely for him, as he did for her. They were soulmates, even if he thought the notion ludicrous, they were. He enveloped all of her senses, her nerves fluctuating around him, her heart fluttering whenever he laughed. She was infatuated with him, she wanted nothing more than to grab him and kiss him just to show him how much she 'hated' him.
But of course she couldn't. He was the king, he was ruthless, he had no time for feelings of adoration, he had no use for people that no longer rivaled him. So, instead of giving into her feelings, she lied, hoping he would believe her because even if he went on thinking she had feelings of malice towards him, it meant he kept her around and that was all she needed.
"How could I not?" her tone shifted into the one she knew too well, spite.
"Very well then" he spoke clearly before inclining his head ever so slightly and getting up to walk away, ignoring the burning in his heart. She hated him, of course she did. Now he would have to go on pretending to hate her too.
Oh, what a chore.
---
Calian is destined to be the heir to the throne, its what he wanted ever since he was young. But on the day of his coronation, he gets a visit from an assassin who has been hired to kill him. After a failed attempt, he captures her and keeps her locked in his castle. He's fascinated on how she thought she would succeed. He wants answers that she won't give, even more of a reason to keep her around, right?
Every year, Lyra's village gathers beneath the ancient statues of the Fates, offering prayers and sacrifices to keep the creeping darkness at bay. The Ruined Kingdom stands in the distance, a forbidden place where no one enters and no one leaves. A place ruled by a king who does not age, does not die, and does not care for the world beyond his walls.
Lyra has never believed in fate, only in survival.
With her mother's health failing, she is willing to do whatever it takes to save what little she has left. But when this year's ritual goes terribly wrong, Lyra is taken-ripped from the life she knows and thrust into the heart of a kingdom lost to time.
There, she is told she has been chosen. That she, along with others, must vie for the favor of a king no one has seen in over a century. But something is wrong within the castle's walls. Whispers of the past haunt her steps, and the King-cold, untouchable, and shrouded in secrets-watches her too closely.
As shadows stir and forgotten magic awakens, Lyra begins to question everything she's been told about the Ruined Kingdom. And, more importantly, about herself.
Because the deeper she delves into the mystery of the King and the kingdom he rules behind the walls, the more she realizes:
Some destinies are written in blood.
And some fates are meant to be broken.