Liora's POV
The binding runes are burning again.
I press my palm against my ribs, feeling the carved marks sizzle beneath my uniform. The pain shoots through my chest like someone's pressing hot iron against my bones. I bite my lip hard enough to taste blood and keep walking, balancing the tray of crystal glasses without spilling a drop.
Can't stop. Can't show weakness. Not here. Not tonight.
"More wine, you stupid girl! The Grand Magister's glass is empty!"
I flinch at the head servant's bark and rush toward the high table. My skin itches underneath my long sleeves—the glow trying to break free. I carved fresh runes into my arms just three hours ago, cutting deeper than usual. The magic in my blood fights against the binding every second, screaming to be released.
But if my light shows, even for a heartbeat, I'm dead.
The Grand Ascension Ball is the biggest celebration of the year. Every noble in the Radiant Citadel is here tonight, dressed in silks and jewels that cost more than most people earn in a lifetime. They laugh and dance and stuff their faces while people in the lower city starve.
And right in the center of it all, glowing like a false sun, is my half-sister Celeste.
She's wearing our mother's crown.
My hands shake, making the glasses clink together. I steady them quickly, but not before a passing noble glances at me with disgust. To them, I'm invisible. Just another gray-uniformed servant, beneath their notice.
Good. That's what keeps me alive.
Celeste laughs at something High Commander Theron whispers in her ear. The sound is like breaking glass—pretty but sharp. She touches the necklace at her throat, and I recognize it instantly. Mother's starlight pendant. The one she was wearing when Father's men dragged her away thirteen years ago.
The one Celeste promised to keep safe.
The one she's now wearing like a trophy.
My chest tightens, and not from the binding runes. The memory crashes over me like a wave, pulling me under—
"Liora, hide!" Mother shoves me into the cupboard, her hands shaking. Her light is flickering, dying. She's used too much magic trying to protect us.
"What about you?" I'm only ten years old, and I don't understand why Father's soldiers are in our house, why Celeste is standing beside him instead of with us.
"Celeste will explain everything. She'll take care of you." Mother kisses my forehead. "Remember, little star—your light is precious. Never let them take it."
Through the crack in the cupboard, I watch Father point at Mother. "There she is. The last of the true Lightborn royal line. Kill her, and we'll split the reward."
Celeste stands frozen. Silent. Her eyes meet mine through the crack, and I mouth the word: HELP.
She looks away.
Mother's scream is cut short by Commander Ryker's blade. Her light goes out forever. I clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming, tears streaming down my face.
Celeste gets a new dress the next day. She never speaks of it again.
"Are you deaf? I said the Grand Magister needs wine!"
I snap back to the present, blinking hard. The head servant is glaring at me. I hurry to the high table, pouring wine with steady hands even though I'm screaming inside.
Celeste doesn't even glance at me. Why would she? I'm just a servant. She made sure of that. After Mother died, Father kept me alive but locked me in the servant's quarters. "Insurance," he called me. "In case we ever need true Lightborn blood for something."
Then Father died three years ago, and Celeste could have freed me. Instead, she assigned me to work in the palace kitchens. Close enough to watch her steal everything that should have been ours. Far enough that no one would ever know we're sisters.
Sometimes I wonder if she feels guilty. Then I see her laughing in our mother's jewels, and I know she doesn't.
The evening drags on. My runes burn hotter with every passing hour. By the time they bring out the desserts, my vision is starting to blur from pain. I just need to last until midnight. Then I can go to my tiny room, carve fresh runes, and hope the binding holds for another month.
That's when I see the little boy choking.
He's maybe six years old, sitting at the merchant's table. His face is turning purple, eyes bulging in panic. His father is drunk, laughing with other nobles. His mother is across the room. No one notices.
Everyone is too busy celebrating Celeste's upcoming coronation to care that a child is dying.
I should keep walking. It's not my problem. I'm nobody—just a servant who needs to stay invisible and alive.
But Mother's voice echoes in my head: "Your light is precious."
She meant I should hide it. Protect it.
But what good is precious light if I never use it to help anyone?
My feet are moving before I can think. I drop my tray—glasses shatter across the marble floor. Nobles gasp and curse. The head servant screams my name. I don't care.
I push through the crowd and reach the boy. His lips are blue now. Three seconds, maybe four, before his heart stops.
I grab his chest with both hands.
And I let my light explode.
It bursts from my palms in a wave of pure white fire—hot and bright and absolutely impossible to hide. The binding runes on my skin crack like broken pottery. Magic floods through me for the first time in thirteen years, and it feels like flying.
The boy gasps. The food dislodges from his throat. He coughs and cries and breathes.
He's alive.
The ballroom goes completely silent.
Oh no.
Oh no no no no—
I look down at my hands. They're glowing like miniature suns. The sleeves of my uniform have burned away, revealing my arms covered in shattered runes and swirling constellation marks. My hair is floating around my face, shimmering with starlight.
Everyone is staring at me.
Celeste's wine glass slips from her hand and shatters on the floor.
For three heartbeats, no one moves.
Then Celeste stands up slowly. Her face is white, eyes wide with something that looks like horror and satisfaction mixed together. She points at me with a shaking finger.
"Seize her!" Her voice cracks across the silent room. "That's dark magic! She's an abomination! An imposter using forbidden power!"
Guards rush toward me from all sides.
I try to run, but there's nowhere to go. Strong hands grab my arms, forcing me to my knees. Someone rips away what's left of my uniform, exposing the constellation marks across my skin—the proof of what I really am.
High Commander Theron walks toward me slowly, his boots clicking on marble. He crouches down until we're eye to eye. His smile makes my stomach turn.
"Well, well," he says softly. "A true Lightborn. I thought we killed all of you twenty years ago." He grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him. "You've been hiding here the whole time? Right under our noses? How deliciously stupid."
"Let me go!" I struggle, but the guards' grip is iron.
Celeste approaches, and I look up at her desperately. "Celeste, please. I'm your sister. Tell them the truth!"
For just a second—one tiny second—something breaks in her expression. Guilt. Regret. Maybe even love.
Then her face goes cold and hard as stone.
She leans down and whispers in my ear, so quietly only I can hear: "You were always Mother's favorite. She gave you the real magic, the real power, the real love. She looked at you like you hung the stars." Her voice shakes with thirteen years of jealousy and pain. "I won't let you steal my crown too. I won't let you steal everything again."
She straightens up and announces loudly: "This creature has been spying for the shadow monsters. She cursed Lord Bennett's son, then pretended to heal him to gain access to tonight's celebration. She planned to assassinate me and Commander Theron!"
"That's not true!" I scream, but no one listens.
Theron stands, drawing his sword. The blade gleams in the chandelier light. "For the crime of practicing forbidden magic and conspiracy against the crown, I sentence you to death. Execution at dawn."
The guards drag me away. I thrash and fight and scream Celeste's name, but she's already turned her back. She picks up her wine glass like nothing happened. Like she didn't just sentence her own sister to die.
The last thing I see before they throw me into the dungeon is Celeste placing Mother's crown back on her head.
And smiling.