LuckyLuca112
Every autumn, the surface kingdoms send a young woman beneath the earth as a sacrifice to the Underqueen, the monstrous ruler said to keep the dead asleep and winter from swallowing the world.
This year, they choose Elara.
Raised to be beautiful, obedient, and forgettable, Elara expects cruelty when she is taken to the underworld. Instead, she finds a vast kingdom of ghost-lit cities, ancient magic, and Nyx: the feared Underqueen with antlers, claws, and shadows beneath her skin. A monster the world taught her to fear. A woman far gentler than the stories ever allowed.
When Elara's fiancé, Prince Adrian, finds a way into the underworld to bring her home, Nyx offers an impossible bargain: Elara may spend spring and summer above, but every autumn and winter she must return below.
Caught between two worlds, Elara begins to unravel the truth about the kingdoms above, the curse consuming Nyx, and the dangerous ache growing between them. Because in the underworld, she is no longer merely admired for her beauty, she is seen.
But as war brews between the surface and the underworld, Elara must decide where she truly belongs; beside the prince who promised to save her... or beside the monster she is beginning to love.
(Keep in mind that this is the first draft.. so just... bare with me..❤️)