All Chapters of Secrets of the Ash Princess: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

Five hundred students stood in the school yard, and every single one of them knew I was supposed to be dead.The huge black scoreboard in the middle of the yard glowed with bright light. Right at the very top it showed Rank 1: Kaka Obsidian, shining in a deep, heavy purple. Down at the bottom was my stolen name, flickering like a candle about to go out.Rank 500: Evangeline Cross."Move it, trash," a guard barked, jabbing his iron spear into my ribs. "The testing stone doesn't play around. Either step up or get thrown to the giant."I didn't back down. I reached down and touched the thick silver ring on my right hand. It had belonged to the real Evangeline. She didn't cry when my real family, the Vances, came for her to hide their ugly secrets. She just looked at me with blood on her lips and pressed this ring into my hand. *"Run, Loveth,"* she whispered. *"Take my name. Punish them."*She was the only person from the starving slums who had ever shared her bread with me. Now she was g

Kaka’s fingers pressed hard on the fresh cut on my wrist. The pain burned like fire, but I didn’t flinch. If I pulled away, it would show I had something to hide. If I used my magic to push him off, the whole school would be after me by morning. “I told you my name at the gate, Your Highness,” I said. My voice stayed steady. I opened my eyes wide, trying to look like a confused, hurt girl from a small family house. “My name is Evangeline Cross. Why are you hurting me?”Kaka leaned in closer. His face was just a few inches from mine. His silver eyes searched my face for any tiny slip-up. “The real Evangeline Cross grew up in the southern valleys. Her family records say she had a small white scar on her left chin from a riding accident. You don’t have that scar.”A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck. I had studied every detail of Evangeline’s life before she died, but she never mentioned a childhood scar on her chin. My mind raced. If he called the guards back, it was all over

The mud on my boots dried fast, turning into a crust that broke off with every step I took down the long, grey hallway. I didn’t look back at the courtyard. I didn’t need to. The angry shouts from Kaelen Vance’s friends still bounced off the stone walls, but they weren’t chasing me. First, they had to drag their leader to the medical wing.I squeezed my left hand into a tight fist. My skin still felt warm from the tiny bit of ash-magic I’d used to make the ground slippery under Kaelen’s feet. That was a stupid risk. If anyone with sharp eyes had seen that grey puff come from my fingers, the guards would’ve thrown me in the deep cells before sunset. But Kaelen was about to carve up my face in front of two hundred people. In the slums, if a girl lets a bully mark her, she’s as good as dead. I had a choice: get caught or get broken. I chose to live.“You walk fast for someone who just made a very dangerous enemy,” a voice said from the shadows ahead.I stopped. My breath caught.Kaka Obs