Ivory_aoi
The law is simple: The Crimson Grove belongs to the Crown. Anyone caught trespassing is never seen again.
Elara knows the risks, but she's a shadow in the night, a thief who has never been caught...until she reaches for the glowing fruit and feels a blade pressed to her throat.
Kaelen, the King's most loyal executioner, has no room for mercy. His job is to eliminate threats, not listen to them. Yet, something about the defiant girl in the moonlight stays his hand. Instead of turning her in, he strikes a dark bargain: she will use her thieving skills to help him uncover a conspiracy within the palace, and in return, he'll keep her secret from the gallows.
Bound by a pact that could get them both executed, they are forced into a world of forced proximity and dangerous silence. Every brush of their hands is a risk; every lingering look is a betrayal of their worlds.
In a game of masks and monsters, the most dangerous thing isn't the King's wrath-it's the slow, agonizing realization that they would burn the world down just to keep each other safe.
They were never meant to meet. And they certainly weren't meant to fall.