Aria POV
I wake up choking on smoke.
My eyes burn. My throat feels like I swallowed broken glass. I try to move but my hands are tied behind my back, wrapped around something wooden. A pole. I'm tied to a pole.
And there's fire everywhere.
"No, no, no!" I thrash against the ropes, panic flooding my body. The flames aren't touching me yet—they're in a circle about ten feet away, creating a wall of heat and smoke. But they're getting closer. Someone built a pyre. They're going to burn me alive.
"HELP!" I scream as loud as I can. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
"No one's coming, witch." A voice cuts through the crackling flames.
I squint through the smoke and see her. Lyanna. My stepsister stands outside the fire circle, her beautiful face lit by orange flames. She's not alone—three men in dark cloaks stand with her, watching me burn.
"You were supposed to die on the execution platform," Lyanna says calmly, like she's discussing the weather. "But you had to open your mouth with your strange words and your impossible knowledge. You made Prince Kael curious. That was your mistake."
"You did this!" I cough, smoke filling my lungs. "You framed me! The letters, the witnesses—it was all lies!"
Lyanna smiles. "Of course it was. Did you really think I'd let you marry the Crown Prince? That position was supposed to be mine. His grandfather promised me to him before your pathetic family even arrived at court."
The fire creeps closer. I can feel the heat blistering my skin. I pull at the ropes but they're too tight. "Why? What did I ever do to you?"
"You existed." Her voice turns venomous. "You showed up with your sweet smile and your innocent eyes, and suddenly Kael's grandfather decided you were 'better breeding stock.' Like I'm a horse! Me—a woman from one of the oldest families in the kingdom!"
She steps closer to the flames, her face twisted with hatred. "So I made sure everyone saw you for what you really are. A whore. A traitor. A witch. And now that Prince Kael is starting to doubt the evidence, well... dead women tell no tales."
"He'll know you did this!" I shout, even as black spots dance in my vision from the smoke. "He's not stupid!"
"He's a man." Lyanna laughs. "Men are always stupid when it comes to women. By the time he finds your burned corpse, I'll be crying in his arms about how tragic it is that the villagers killed you. He'll comfort me. Trust me. Eventually marry me." She tilts her head, studying me like I'm an insect. "You should thank me, really. Burning is faster than what I originally planned."
The flames jump higher. The heat is unbearable now. I can't breathe. Can't think. This is how I die—not in my own time, not in my own body, but burned alive in a medieval nightmare while my psychotic stepsister watches.
No. NO. I didn't survive that execution platform just to die like this.
My engineer brain fights through the panic. Think. THINK. Fire needs oxygen. The smoke is rising, which means there's air flow. The pole behind me is wooden—old wood, by the feel of it. The ropes are hemp, natural fiber, which means they'll burn eventually.
Eventually isn't fast enough.
"Lyanna!" I force my voice to stay steady even though I'm terrified. "You made a mistake with those letters. You mentioned the breeding contract. Only five people knew about that arrangement. Kael will figure out you forged them."
Her smile falters. Just for a second.
"You're lying. Trying to save yourself—"
"I'm not lying and you know it." I cough again, my lungs burning. "You included information that only someone at that private meeting would know. And since I was never at that meeting, that means someone else wrote those letters. Someone who was there. Someone like you."
Lyanna's face goes pale. "Shut up."
"He's probably figuring it out right now," I continue, even as flames lick at the bottom of my dress. Oh God, my dress is catching fire. "He's smart. Cold, but smart. And once he realizes you betrayed him—"
"SHUT UP!" Lyanna screams. She turns to the men in cloaks. "Add more wood! I want her dead before the prince arrives!"
Before the prince arrives? That means Kael is coming. He's looking for me.
Hope flares in my chest, brighter than the flames.
The cloaked men throw more branches onto the fire. The heat becomes unbearable. My skin feels like it's melting. I can't see through the smoke anymore. Can't breathe. Can't think.
This is it. This is how Aria Chen dies—
Then I hear it. The thunder of horse hooves. Shouts. The ring of steel being drawn.
"MOVE!" A voice roars through the night. Kael's voice.
The world explodes into chaos. The cloaked men scatter. Lyanna screams something I can't hear. There's fighting—the clash of swords, men yelling, horses neighing in panic.
Through the wall of flames, I see a figure on horseback. Dark hair. Gray eyes reflecting firelight. Prince Kael rides straight into the fire circle, his horse rearing and screaming. He's going to die. The flames will kill both of them.
But he doesn't stop. He drives his horse forward, reaching me in seconds. His sword flashes and the ropes fall away from my wrists. He grabs me—just scoops me up like I weigh nothing—and pulls me onto his horse.
"Hold on!" he shouts.
I wrap my arms around him because I don't have another choice. His horse leaps through the flames. I feel the heat sear my skin, smell burning hair—mine or the horse's, I don't know. Then we're through, we're out, we're—
We're falling. The horse stumbles on the uneven ground and we both tumble off. I hit the dirt hard, rolling, my burned skin screaming in agony. Everything hurts. Everything is spinning.
Strong hands grab me. Pull me further from the fire. I look up and see Kael kneeling beside me, his face covered in soot and ash. There's a burn on his cheek. His hands are blistered.
He rode through fire for me.
"Can you breathe?" he demands. "Are you burned badly? Answer me!"
"I'm—" I start to say I'm okay, but I'm not okay. My dress is still smoking. My skin feels like it's on fire. And suddenly I'm crying, big ugly sobs that I can't control because I almost died, I almost burned alive, and this cold prince just risked his life to save mine.
"You're safe." His voice is still cold but his hands are gentle, checking me for injuries. "You're safe now. I have you."
Behind him, I see his guards wrestling Lyanna to the ground. She's screaming, fighting like a wild animal. "She's a witch! She deserves to burn! Let me go!"
"Take her to the dungeons," Kael orders without looking away from me. "Chain her next to my brother. They can discuss their crimes together."
"You can't do this!" Lyanna shrieks as the guards drag her away. "My family will—"
"Your family will do nothing unless they want to join you." Kael's voice cuts like a blade. "You kidnapped my prisoner. Attempted murder. And I have three witnesses who will testify you hired them." He finally looks at her, and his expression makes even me shiver. "You should have killed me instead of her. That was your mistake."
Lyanna's screams fade as they drag her away.
I'm shaking so hard my teeth chatter. Shock, probably. Or maybe just the realization that everything in my life—both lives—has gone completely insane.
Kael pulls off his cloak and wraps it around me. It smells like smoke and horse and something clean, like pine trees. "Can you stand?"
"I think so." But when I try, my legs give out. He catches me before I hit the ground.
"You're in shock. And possibly burned worse than you realize." He studies my face with those cold gray eyes. "We need to get you to a healer."
"Why?" The word comes out before I can stop it. "Why did you save me? I'm just a prisoner. Just a useful tool for your war."
Something flickers in his expression. Not quite emotion—he's too controlled for that. But something.
"Because you were right," he says quietly. "About the letters. About the setup. About everything." He pauses. "And because whatever else you are—witch, spy, madwoman—you're mine now. No one burns my property without consequences."
His property. Right. I'm not a person to him. Just an asset.
But he rode through fire for me.
Before I can respond, one of his guards approaches, breathing hard. "Your Highness! You need to see this. We found something in Lady Lyanna's belongings. Multiple letters—all forgeries in different hands. And a list."
"What kind of list?"
The guard's face goes pale. "Names, Your Highness. Twenty-three names. All people in positions of power. And next to each name is a date and a method." He swallows hard. "It's an assassination schedule. Lady Lyanna wasn't just trying to become queen. She was planning to eliminate everyone who might stand in her way."
Ice runs down my spine. "Let me see that list."
Kael hesitates, then nods to the guard. The man hands over a piece of parchment.
I scan the names, not recognizing most of them. But then I reach the bottom of the list and my blood turns to ice.
"PRINCE KAEL VALERIUS - WEDDING NIGHT - POISON IN WINE"
My hands shake as I look up at him. "She was going to kill you. On your wedding night with her. She wanted you dead all along."
Kael takes the list, his face emotionless. But I see his jaw tighten. His knuckles go white where he grips the parchment.
"Then she made two mistakes," he says softly. "She underestimated you. And she underestimated me." He looks down at me, and for the first time, there's something almost human in his eyes. "It seems we both owe each other our lives now."
Before I can respond, a commotion erupts from the direction of the city. More horses. More shouts. A rider appears, racing toward us at full speed.
"YOUR HIGHNESS!" the rider screams. "THE CASTLE—THERE'S BEEN AN EXPLOSION—YOUR FATHER'S TOWER IS ON FIRE—"
Kael goes absolutely still. "What?"
"The King's tower, Your Highness! The entire west wing is burning! We tried to reach him but the stairs collapsed—he's trapped—"
Kael is already moving, swinging onto his horse. He looks down at me, conflict clear on his face. Save his father or stay with me.
"GO!" I shout. "I'm fine! Go save him!"
He nods once and rides off into the night, his guards following.
And I'm left standing there, wrapped in his cloak, watching the sky light up orange in the distance as another part of the castle burns.
Lyanna's list had twenty-three names.
How many has she already killed?
And why do I have the terrible feeling that everything—the execution, the kidnapping, even this fire—is part of something much bigger and more dangerous than anyone realizes?