The night sky over Lumaria was alive, as if the heavens themselves had breathed into existence a thousand shimmering whispers. Stars burned brighter than lanterns, constellations shifting imperceptibly, as though rearranging themselves to watch the unfolding story of a girl who had no place in their design.
Aelinthra Vael walked along the Marble Spire Bridge, her cloak pulled tightly around her slender frame, the hem brushing the cold stones. The city below stretched like a sleeping giant, rivers of light flowing through towers and temples, the citizens oblivious to the invisible threads of fate pulling them forward.
She was careful to avoid the glow of the Lumen lanterns, for they always reminded her that she was different. Starless. Unmarked. Invisible to fate itself. Where others saw destiny woven into the shimmer of their Star Marks, hers was blank, untouched.
And she liked it that way.
But tonight… tonight was different.
A tremor of energy ran through her veins, cold and electric, like lightning trapped in water. The hair along her arms lifted, and for the first time in her twenty-one years, she felt a presence—one that was not her own, one that reached through the void between stars and demanded recognition.
Her heartbeat quickened. Something was coming. Something inevitable.
The shadows behind the Marble Spire flickered, coalescing into a figure taller than any mortal should be. Cloaked in black, the man moved with the confidence of a predator, yet every step carried a weight she couldn't place. Her instincts screamed to run, but curiosity held her rooted in place.
"You are… awake," the voice said, low and uneven, carrying both recognition and warning.
Aelinthra's eyes narrowed. "Who—?"
He stepped into the lantern light, and the air itself seemed to shiver. Kaelthorn Draev. His reputation preceded him like a storm cloud: the Ash Prince, war criminal, the man whose name was whispered with both fear and awe. And yet, here he stood… and somehow, she felt the pull before she even understood why.
"You feel it too," he said, almost a statement, almost a question. His dark eyes locked onto her, and the world shifted. The stars overhead pulsed, constellations twisting as if reacting to their proximity. The air between them vibrated with unspoken force.
Aelinthra's breath caught. She had never met anyone who made her feel… visible. Not in this life. Not in any life she could remember.
"What… what is happening?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, but Kaelthorn's gaze seemed to pierce it, unravel it, read it.
He took another step closer, and a faint glow appeared between them, spiraling like molten silver. It coiled around them both, wrapping them in a thread of light that neither had asked for, yet neither could resist.
"Fate," he said simply.
She shook her head. "I… I don't have a fate."
He laughed, low and bitter. "No one truly is free of it. Not even the starless."
The thread of silver pulsed, tightening like a heartbeat. Her chest stung with a strange ache, a longing she didn't understand, a tether she could not break. Something inside her stirred—a void, a power, a pulse calling to him as strongly as he was to her.
Kaelthorn's hand hovered just above hers, trembling ever so slightly. "You are… extraordinary," he said. His words were both warning and promise. "And dangerous. More dangerous than you realize."
Aelinthra's mind spun. She had always known she was different, but never like this. She had always been alone, drifting through a world that ignored her. And now… someone who could sense her, who was drawn to her, was standing just a step away.
A pull stronger than fear, stronger than caution, compelled her forward. Slowly, instinctively, she lifted her hand.
The moment their fingers almost touched, a violent surge tore through the night. The silver thread snapped into brilliance, exploding around them like the birth of a star. Light and shadow intertwined, a crack in reality itself. Aelinthra screamed—not from pain, but from a truth she could not deny.
It was him. She felt him inside her, and she felt herself inside him. Her heartbeat matched his. Her breath synced with his. The stars themselves seemed to bend toward them, as if acknowledging a bond that had been written long before either of them existed.
"This… this is impossible," she gasped.
Kaelthorn's eyes were dark, stormy, yet something tender flickered within them. "No," he said, voice hoarse. "This… is inevitable."
For the first time, Aelinthra understood: she had not been invisible. She had been waiting. Waiting for the moment destiny could not ignore. And now, destiny had arrived—wrapped in fire, shadow, and a man she did not yet trust.
The city slept below, unaware of the power that had awakened above it. But Aelinthra knew. She could feel the weight of it pressing against her ribs, pulling at her soul.
She wanted to pull away. She wanted to scream and flee. But even as she fought, a single thought anchored her:
Whatever this bond was… she would not be the same again.
And neither would he.
The stars burned brighter.
The night held its breath.
Fate had chosen its first move.