The Lost Princess of Valeriya

Chapter 8: Two Paths Cross

Elara pov

The deeper we went into the Whitewood, the stranger everything became.

Trees whispered even when the wind was still, and the air shimmered as if holding its breath. I could feel it—magic—humming low beneath my skin, like a melody I didn’t yet know the words to. It itched at the edges of my thoughts, pulsed in my palms, and sometimes made the shadows flicker when I blinked too long.

“Remind me again why we didn’t take the main road?” Arin asked, brushing a branch from her face. She was trying to sound casual, but I saw the way her eyes scanned the trees.

“Because you’re a fugitive with a fabulous coat and I’m a mystery with a glowing birthmark,” I said, flashing her a grin. “Main roads don’t like our kind.”

Arin snorted. “Fair. But if I get eaten by something with wings and more teeth than manners, I’m blaming you.”

“Duly noted.”

We weren’t exactly prepared for a journey through haunted woods, but after my parents—no, Mira and Thorn—sent me away, we didn’t have much choice. Their magic had been discovered, and with enforcers crawling the town like hungry spiders, we had to run. Arin refused to let me go alone. Honestly, I was glad she didn’t listen. I would've been hopeless without her… not that I’d ever admit it aloud.

We came upon the glassmaker’s cottage just before dusk.

It sat nestled between two leaning trees, moss crawling up its sides like greedy fingers. The windows glowed faintly with amber light. A crooked sign above the door read: "Calen Glass & Secrets."

“Glass and… secrets?” Arin said, arching a brow. “What kind of shop is this?”

“The good kind,” I replied, already walking up the steps. “Or the weird kind. Either way, I’m intrigued.”

I knocked twice.

A moment later, the door creaked open to reveal a man with wild silver hair, round glasses, and a long blue robe speckled with what looked like glitter. Or maybe… stars?

“Yes?” he said, peering down at us. “Are you lost, cursed, or simply curious?”

I tilted my head. “Can we be all three?”

The glassmaker smiled. “Enter, then. Only the brave—or the foolish—seek what you’re about to find.”

Well, that wasn’t ominous at all.

---

The inside of the cottage smelled like melted sugar and ink. Shelves lined the walls, each filled with tiny glass creatures—dragons, stags, phoenixes—all glowing faintly with captured light. The whole place pulsed with old enchantments.

“I’m Calen,” the man said. “Glassmaker, lore keeper, occasional fortune-mumbler.”

“I’m Elara. This is Arin.”

“Ah.” He paused, eyes narrowing behind his spectacles. “Elara. Light within shadow. Fire bound in chains. A name that waits to remember itself.”

Okay… I did not like that.

“I’m sorry, what?”

But he didn’t answer. Instead, he glided to a high shelf and pulled down a small glass sphere. It shimmered silver and blue as he handed it to me.

“Hold it,” he said softly.

I hesitated, then wrapped my fingers around it.

The room vanished.

In its place, a sky. Two moons hung above—a perfect alignment—and then… a crying baby, a woman screaming, and a figure cloaked in dark fire stealing something away.

I gasped and nearly dropped the sphere.

“What—what was that?” I whispered.

Calen's expression had turned grave. “A memory embedded in magic. A shard of the moment you were taken.”

Arin reached for me. “Elara, are you okay?”

“I don’t—how is this possible? I’m just… just—”

“Not just anything,” Calen interrupted. “You are the child of the moons. The prophecy long buried is awakening. Your magic is no longer asleep. That necklace you wear—it's cracking.”

My hand flew to the chain around my neck.

The pendant pulsed.

“So you know who I am?”

“I know who you might be,” Calen said. “But the path is still yours to choose.”

“Why help us?” Arin asked sharply. “If she’s so important, why not turn her in?”

The glassmaker chuckled. “I’ve outlived kings and burned bridges with queens. I don’t owe the realm anything. But I do respect destiny. And destiny adores chaos.”

Arin and I exchanged a look. That definitely tracked.

Calen leaned closer. “There are others looking for you. Not all enemies. Some… family.”

My heart thudded.

“Family?”

“Bound by blood. One walks with a twin flame tied to yours. They’re searching for a girl they’ve never met… and for a relic only she can wield.”

I was shaking, but I straightened my shoulders. “And where do I go?”

“West,” he said, eyes gleaming. “To the ruins of Solenhart. There, the veil thins. If you are brave enough to see who you truly are… it will answer.”

Before we left, Calen handed me a glass raven, feathered with fire.

“Speak your name to it,” he said, “when you’re in danger.”

I didn’t know what scared me more—that someone knew me before I did, or that I was about to discover why.

But one thing was clear: my life wasn’t mine anymore.

It belonged to a place I didn’t remember… and a fate I wasn’t sure I wanted.

Still, I wouldn’t run.

Not anymore.