Chapter 1 The Girl Who Should've Run

Lyra Thorn should've known the night would end badly. Any night that began with her sprinting across the rooftop of the Lower Quarters usually did. The moon hung low over Solarys Kingdom, casting silver light over the maze of rooftops. Smoke curled from chimneys, music drifted from taverns, and somewhere below her, angry shouts rose in the wind.

"THERE! THE GIRL WITH THE RELIC-CATCH HER!"

Lyra grinned. Too late.

She leapt across the gap between buildings, boots skidding on old tiles. Her heartbeat thudded wild, not from fear, fear was for people with something to lose, But from the intoxicating rush of getting away with yet another crime.

Almost.

She dug into her pocket, fingers brushing the cold metal of the relic she'd stolen. A small sun-shaped medallion, humming with faint warmth. She didn't know why it glowed when she touched it... but she liked the way it made her chest tighten. Magic. Real magic. Almost no one outside the royal bloodline could touch these without being burned.

But Lyra wasn't "no one." She just wasn't sure what she was. A guard's shout echoed behind her. "STOP, THIEF!"

"Oh, shut up," she muttered, vaulting over a wooden plank and landing hard on the next roof. Then she saw it- the long banner of gold and white fluttering from the guard tower ahead. The palace district.

Crap.

She spun around and slammed straight into someone. Strong hands gripped her arms. She hissed, ready to bite and kick her way out until she looked up.

Her stomach dropped.

Prince Aerion Solarys.

Golden-haired, soft-eyed, dressed in a simple cloak instead of royal attire, but still unmistakable. He was twenty one, only two years older than her, but his presence was enough to make the world pause. He looked like the kind of boy who wasn't meant to exist in her world. too noble, too gentle, too painfully beautiful.

Lyra stumbled back. "What are you doing on a rooftop?"

"You're welcome," Aerion said calmly, as if she'd thanked him. "I just stopped you from falling."

"I wasn't going to fall."

"You were absolutely going to fall."

Her mouth twitched. "Well... thanks, I guess."

His eyes drifted to her hand. The relic glowed through her fingers. Aerion's expression changed-slowly, shock blooming into something else. Curiosity. Awe. Maybe even fear.

"That relic should burn you," he whispered.

"It doesn't."

"That's impossible."

Lyra stepped closer, chin tilted. "I don't care about possible."

Shouts grew louder behind them. Torches. Footsteps. Aerion exhaled sharply, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her toward the edge.

"This way," he said.

Lyra froze. Princes didn't help thieves. Princes turned them in. Princes smiled politely while signing their execution orders.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked.

He looked back at her with eyes that glowed faintly, like a secret sunrise.

"Because you're not supposed to be able to hold that relic. And because-"

his voice softened, "-you looked scared for a moment."

"I wasn't scared," she said quickly.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing."

The guards burst onto the rooftop. Aerion didn't hesitate. He pulled Lyra closer and they both fell. Not to their deaths but to safe ground. He landed gracefully on a balcony overgrown with vines. She crashed into him, palms on his chest, breath tangled with his. He held her firmly. Not like a prince, But like a boy who'd wanted to catch her the moment he saw her.

Lyra swallowed, suddenly aware of everything the warmth of his hands, the closeness of his breath, the way magic hummed between them because the relic was still in her palm. Aerion's eyes lowered to her lips. For a moment, the world stilled. Then...

"Prince Aerion!" A distant shout.

Aerion released her slowly, reluctantly, as if reality had finally remembered them.

"You need to leave," he whispered.

"Right," she said, stepping back. "And if the guards catch you with me-"

"They won't."

He hesitated, then added, "Lyra... we'll meet again."

"You don't know that."

A soft smile curved his mouth. "I do."

And then he vanished into the castle shadows, leaving her alone, breathless, and furious at herself for feeling... anything. Lyra Thorn did not fall for princes, She stole from them. But as she ran into the night, relic still burning against her skin, she knew one thing for certain:

Prince Aerion had looked at her like she was magic.

And magic always came with a price.