The Crown and Ash

In the kingdom of Luthandrel, where crowns are heavy with duty and fate is written in whispers of magic, Princess Evelyne walks a path paved with expectation. The future queen-graceful, patient, yet laced with quiet defiance. But for as long as she can remember, her gaze has been drawn not to the throne, but to the sorceress who stands just beyond its reach.

Thalia. Born of Ravenwood's oldest bloodline, marked by the magic in her veins and the otherworldly beauty that sets her kind apart. Evelyne had admired her once for her kindness, for the way she carried the weight of her lineage with effortless strength. She had admired her always.

But admiration is not the same as understanding. Not when grief takes root. Not when the warmth in Thalia's eyes fades beneath the shadow of loss. Her parents-pillars of wisdom and power-were taken from her in a death too cruel to name. And in their absence, she has changed.

Evelyne still looks at her, still sees the girl she once knew. But Thalia is different now-quieter, distant, a storm on the verge of breaking. And Evelyne, for all her patience, does not know if she can reach her before the winds pull them apart.

Yet in a kingdom ruled by duty and deception, where magic is both a gift and a curse, one truth remains-Evelyne has never stopped looking at Thalia. And she does not think she ever will.