The shadowbound oath

LYRA The gates of Noxaris rise before me like the ribcage of a dead god;towering black arches carved with runes older than the war that divides our worlds. Shadows curl around the metal like hungry fingers, whispering warnings I refuse to listen to. I keep my head bowed, my hood low, my voice steady. A lie sits on my tongue, smooth as silk. “I am here to serve.” The guards stare at me with glowing silver eyes, their pupils shaped like slits—Shadowforged. Kael Draven’s elite soldiers. The ones who tear spies apart before they blink. My heart drums, but my face remains the calm mask I’ve worn since the day Aurelion taught me to bury fear under duty. A spy shows nothing. A spy bleeds nothing. A spy walks into the lion’s den, smiling. The guard nearest me—tall, scarred, expression carved from stone—steps closer. His shadow stretches over my boots in a living ripple. “What house sent you?” he asks. This was my first test of the day. I inhale slowly. “House Moerath, my lord. The kitchens requested additional hands for the Spring Feast.” The Spring Feast is two months away. Perfect. A lie believable enough to sound stupid,exactly the kind that slips past suspicion. He studied me for a long, suffocating moment. The air around him crackles with shadow magic, brushing against my skin like cold needles. Inside me, Sunfire shivers. No. Not now. I clench my fists until the warmth recedes. The light within me wants out—always—but I can’t let even a spark escape. If anyone here suspects what I am… My mission ends before it begins. Finally, the guard grunts. “Lower your hood.” My pulse spikes. I obey. Black hair, simple braid, plain face—my disguise is deliberately forgettable. But my eyes… those always betray me. Gold flecks swirling in the brown. Evidence of the Sunfire in my veins. His gaze lingers on them. I hold my breath so long my chest aches. Please. Don’t see it. Not today. The guard’s mouth twitches. “Pretty eyes,” he mutters. I almost collapse with relief. He steps aside. “Welcome to Noxaris. Don’t wander. The shadows don’t like strangers.” No, I think, stepping through the towering iron gates. It’s not the shadows that worry me. It’s the prince I’m here to kill. The air changes the moment I cross the threshold. The sunlight behind me dims, swallowed by the city’s unnatural dusk. Noxaris is a kingdom trapped between twilight and night, its streets glowing faintly with violet witchlights that make everything look ethereal and dangerous. Markets hum. Children laugh. Shadowbeasts stalk rooftops. A violinist plays a haunting melody in a corner stall. The city is… "alive." And nothing like the monster-infested wasteland we were taught at home.Aurelion lied! But I’ll process that later. My mission whispers in my ear like a second heartbeat: Infiltrate the Obsidian Keep. Find the crown prince. Kill him. End the war. Simple. Clean. Except no one mentions what to do if the shadows sense your magic before you even reach the palace. A cold shiver skates up my spine. That’s when I feel it. A pull. A sharp tug deep in my chest, like someone is hooking a thread of light inside me and yanking it. I freeze. Sunfire stirs again, restless, almost… alert. “No,” I whisper under my breath. “Not now. Stop.” But it doesn’t. It feels like someone. Something. A presence powerful enough to make the magic inside me vibrate. The hairs on my arms rise. Someone is watching. I turn my head slowly. Up on a shadowed balcony overlooking the main street, a figure stands cloaked in black armor, half in darkness, half in moonlight. Tall. Broad. Dangerous. His eyes are glowing faintly blue, fixed on me with a focus that feels too sharp, too intimate. My breath stutters. Prince Kael Draven. I’ve seen sketches. Portraits. Descriptions in war briefings. None of them capture the way the air bends around him. None of them show how shadows curl up his arms like smoke, claiming a king. None of them warn how deeply unsettling it is to feel a man notice you the way a storm notices a lone flame. I tear my gaze away instantly, heart racing. No. No, no. Not this soon. I’m not ready to face him—not yet, not now, not with my magic trembling like a guilty child. I force myself to keep walking, blending into the city’s rhythm, pretending I didn’t feel his gaze like a hand on my spine. Pretending I’m invisible. Pretending I’m normal. Pretending I’m not here to kill the man watching me from the shadows. My first lie has worked. Now I need a thousand more. KAEL She shouldn’t glow. Not in my kingdom. Not in my shadow. And yet the girl walking through the gate radiates something that makes every instinct in my body sharpen like a blade. Light. Not ordinary light. Not lantern. Not sun-spark. Something purer. Something forbidden. Soulshadow doesn’t lie. The magic inside me reacts when something powerful enters its domain, and right now, it's prowling like a restless animal beneath my skin. She keeps her head low, posture humble, steps careful. A servant? No. Servants don’t tremble on the inside while pretending to be calm. Spies do. I lean on the balcony rail, narrowing my eyes as she passes beneath. Her hood drops. Dark hair. Soft mouth. And eyes—gold-flecked, shimmering. Not Noxarian. Not even close. Interesting. Light magic died out long ago… or so we were told. If she carries even a fragment of it, she’s either incredibly foolish to walk in here— Or incredibly dangerous. My father will want her dead. My army will want her dissected. I… want to understand why the darkness inside me moves toward her like she’s gravity. The girl tries to disappear into the street crowd, but I track her easily. Soulshadow threads around her form, attracted to her heat like smoke seeking flame. She’s hiding something. And whatever it is… it doesn’t belong in my city. I turn to the captain beside me. “Bring her in.” He blinks. “My prince? On what grounds?” I don’t take my eyes off her. “On the grounds that she lied to my gate.” The captain stiffens. “You heard her?” “No,” I say, pushing off the balcony, my long cloak dragging a ripple of darkness behind me. “I felt her.” He pales. “Soulshadow?” I don’t answer. There’s no time. Because if that girl really carries forbidden light… Then she is either the weapon meant to destroy us, Or the prophecy-bound key I’ve been waiting for. I sense him before I feel the guards. Shadows lengthen at my feet. The air chills. The witchlights flicker. No. Please. Not now. Hands clamp around my arms. “What—?” I gasp, twisting, but the guards are too strong. “The prince requests your presence,” one says. Ice fills my stomach. Already? He noticed me already? “I—I’m just a servant—” “Save the lies.” Another jerks me forward. “He’ll know what to do with you.” My blood roars in my ears. If I’m dragged before Kael now, the mission will collapse before it even begins. Sunfire stirs, frantic. Not now. Not here. Not where they can see. But fear makes the magic push against my skin, a burning pulse beneath my ribs. We reach the palace gates—obsidian, looming, humming with pure shadow energy—and I realize something terrifying. Kael Draven is not summoning me because he suspects I’m a spy. He’s summoning me because he felt my magic. That means only one thing: The prince is far more dangerous than Aurelion ever warned. Because if he sensed even a whisper of Sunfire… He already knows I’m lying. The guards drag her toward me, her steps stumbling, her hood half fallen, her eyes wide but defiant. Good. Fear without surrender. Strength without arrogance. And under all of it… light. Faint, but undeniable. She stops three paces from me, chest rising and falling, lips pressed tight. Up close, she smells of sunlight and rain and something I haven’t felt in years— Hope. It unsettles me. I step closer. Her throat tightens. Her hands clench. Sunfire flares inside her like a barely leashed storm, invisible to the eye but pulsing in the air like heatwaves. “Yes,” I murmur quietly, circling her like a shadow. “You feel it too.” She swallows. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Another lie. Soft. Pretty. Deadly. I lean in slightly, my breath brushing her ear. “You’re in the wrong kingdom to lie, little light.” She goes still. And the moment stretches—hot, dangerous, electric. I smile, slow and cruel. “Take her to the Keep. She’s mine now.” Her eyes snap to mine, furious and terrified. This will be interesting. Very interesting.