Elias and Isolde are royal siblings, born of a powerful but ruthless king and a tragic queen who died under mysterious circumstances. As children, they are separated-Isolde is sent away to a distant noble house under the guise of a political alliance, but in truth, it was to hide a dangerous prophecy about her. Elias remains at court, trained as a warrior, believing his sister died years ago. When war threatens the kingdom, Isolde is summoned back to the capital for a forced marriage to a brutal warlord. She meets Elias, now a feared general, and they feel an undeniable, almost supernatural connection-one that turns into an all-consuming passion before they learn the truth of their bloodline. As they struggle with their love and its consequences, they uncover dark secrets about their family: their mother was executed for treason, their father is hiding a dangerous truth, and their very existence defies the gods. Meanwhile, spies and political enemies close in, threatening to expose them. With war raging, betrayals unfolding, and the choice between love and survival tightening around them, Elias and Isolde must decide-flee and live as outcasts, or fight to rewrite fate itself.
Chapter 1 The Return
Chapter One: The Return
(Isoldea's POV)
The city gates loomed before me, black iron against the storm-lit sky, their towering presence a silent omen. Beyond them lay the capitalâ€"a place I had not seen in fifteen years, a place that had long since become myth and shadow in my mind. The wind whispered through the narrow streets, carrying the scent of rain-soaked stone, damp horses, and the acrid tang of burning tallow from the market stalls. Beneath it all was something deeper, something olderâ€"the ghost of blood spilled upon these streets, the quiet hum of power that pulsed beneath the surface like a heartbeat beneath silk.
I had been a child when I last passed through these gates, my small fingers gripping the heavy fabric of my mother’s gown, my heart a frightened creature in my chest. I remembered little from that night beyond the sensation of being torn away, of cold arms lifting me from warmth, of a voiceâ€"perhaps my mother’s, perhaps the gods’â€"calling my name into the void. I had been sent away, hidden in the halls of another noble house under the guise of a ward, though even then I had sensed the lie beneath the words. My exile had been no act of kindness. It had been a severing, a burial. A sacrifice made in silence.
But I had not remained a child. The years had carved their lessons into me with patient cruelty, stripping away the softness of innocence, leaving behind something sharper, something more resilient. I had learned the art of survival in the courts of strangers, had watched queens smile with lips painted in honeyed poison, had learned that a well-placed silence could be as deadly as a blade. I had become something other than what they had intended. And now, after years spent locked away in distant halls, I had been summoned back to the kingdom that had cast me out.
Not for love. Not for reconciliation.
For duty.
For marriage.
For a future that did not belong to me.
The castle loomed ahead, its walls ancient and unyielding, rising from the mist like the bones of a long-dead god. The banners of my father’s house hung from its towers, their sigils snapping in the windâ€"a wolf’s head, its jaws parted in a silent snarl, its teeth still red with the blood of war. The sight of it made something tighten in my chest, though whether it was fear or fury, I could not yet say.
I adjusted my hood, pulling it lower over my face as I stepped through the gates, the cold metal of the portcullis pressing its shadow against my back like the closing of a great maw. The city pulsed around me, alive with its own breath, its own rhythm. Merchants shouted the last of their bargains before the storm broke, their voices rising above the murmur of passing nobles and weary travelers. The clatter of hooves echoed through the narrow streets, armored knights moving in formation, their faceless helms gleaming in the dimming light. Somewhere, a woman was laughing, the sound rich and full, as if the weight of this place did not press down upon her.
For a moment, I wished I could be her.
And then my thoughts strayed, unbidden, to the one I had not seen in years.
Elias.
The name was a ghost in my mind, slipping through my thoughts like a whisper through stone. My brother. My blood. A boy who had once been my world, before time had wrenched us apart. I had been told he was a warrior now, a sword forged in fire, the kingdom’s shield and executioner. The soft edges of childhood had been burned away, leaving only steel and shadow in their wake. I had not seen him since we were children, since the night I was taken. And yet, even after all these years, I could feel the echo of him within me, a bond that had never truly severed, no matter how far I had been cast away.
I pressed a hand to my chest, as if to quiet the storm rising within me.
You are here to wed, Isolde. To serve your duty. Nothing more.
But the gods were watching.
And the air was thick with prophecy.