On a bitter snowy day, a crying three-year-old Empress, Anastasia Brokenoff, is forced into the barren desert lands of Nochten, the homeland of vampires, under the promise she will have a better life amongst her mother's kin. But this couldn't be any further from the truth. In Nochten, Ana is mocked for her silver hair, while her only relatives ignore and abuse their power for their gains. Unable to do anything until her first blood, Ana hides behind books and her late mother's rose garden. It is a lonely life, but Ana accepts her fate and tries to bear with it until she is old enough to change it. That is until the arrival of a new maid, a human named Maddie, who is determined to rekindle the relationship between Ana and her father. Ana believes it will go nowhere, but to her surprise, a single letter sparks a whole chain of events that will throw Ana into a new world of people. People like Prince Nicoli, her half-brother, who invokes strange feelings Ana must keep secret as she traverses the dangerous realm of nobility while holding back her cousin, Mykhol, who is not solely focused on her throne. So, will Ana be able to keep her feelings a secret? Will she be able to keep her crown? Or will Ana end up losing everything she fought so dearly to keep?
View More*Ana*Neither of them came.The thought steals me back from what I'm doing, what I should be doing, before I can stop it, curling cold fingers around my attention and tugging me away from the stack of parchment in front of me. My gaze drifts—again—to the two empty chairs on my right, their burgundy velvet seats still perfectly plumped, untouched by the weight of the bodies that should occupy them.The sight of them makes something knot in my chest, tight and merciless as a fist closing around my ribs.No, stop it, Ana. Focus. You have work to do.I force my eyes back to the map of the settlements, tracing the inked rivers with the tip of my quill until the delicate silver nib catches on a rough patch of parchment. The tiny snag sends a tremor through my fingers. Useless. Useless. My thoughts are traitorous things; they keep circling back to those vacant seats.Part of me had hoped—foolishly, perhaps—that Nicoli, at least, would come.That he'd walk into this room with that easy stride
*Hidi* I should break down the door and drag him out, kicking and screaming.The thought was tempting enough, sending a tremor through her clenched fists. If it were anyone else, Hidi would've done it already. One good stomp and the wood would explode into splinters, the hinges shrieking in metallic protest as she burst through like a summer storm—all thunder and lightning wrapped in velvet. She'd grab the stubborn fool by the collar, her fingers sinking into fabric and flesh alike, and haul them out into the hallway as easily as plucking eggs at Ostara. The satisfying crack of bone, the wheeze of expelled air—she could almost taste it.But this wasn't anyone else. This was Nicoli.And that changed everything.She couldn't just barrel in, couldn't treat him with the same reckless energy and bone-snapping strength she used on Lucy or the occasional defiant maid. Her nostrils flared with each measured breath, the cold air sharp against the tender flesh inside her nose. Nicoli wasn't a
*Nicoli*Nicoli's fingers hovered over the cold brass doorknob, the metal biting against his skin like winter morning frost, sharp enough to ache. His breath misted in the cooler corridor air, each exhale a visible ghost that hung for a heartbeat before dissolving. The tightness in his chest felt like iron bands wrapped around his ribs, constricting with every shallow breath, everything unsaid weighing heavier than armor.The hallway behind him had long since emptied, the last servant scuttling away the moment they'd spotted their approach—mice fleeing a hawk's shadow. Their hurried footsteps still echoed faintly in his memory, a percussion of guilt and avoidance. It should have been a relief to escape their sideways glances, their carefully neutral expressions that spoke volumes. But the lingering pressure beneath his sternum remained, a physical manifestation of everything crumbling around him.The sight of Hidi flashed behind his closed eyelids—still standing at the threshold where
*Nicoli*“Ana, wait! Don’t–”Her name barely made it past his lips. It hung there, unfinished, breathless—like the last wisp of smoke from a snuffed candle as the silver and glass doors whispered shut behind them—a ghost's sigh sealing his fate.Nicoli stood motionless, his arm still stretched toward empty space where she'd been heartbeats before. Mykhol's dark silhouette had materialized like smoke given form, sweeping Ana away with predatory grace—swift, seamless, unapologetic. Like a storm that appears without warning to reap devastation in one fell swoop. They vanished through the gilded archway into the pristine halls beyond, swallowed by marble and shadow.His fingers curled back to his palm slowly, useless now. She was gone.And he hadn't been given the chance to stop her. Every instinct screamed at him to give chase, to find her, comfort her. Ana— But the crushing realization hit him like ice water: he had no idea where they were going, let alone how to navigate this palace la
*Naska*The fire hissed and spat in the hearth, a log shifting with a violent crack that sent sparks spiraling into the air like dying stars. For one blazing moment, the chamber blazed with amber light—illuminating everything in stark, merciless detail before plunging back into shadow. The brief flare caught Ana's silver hair like liquid mercury, her pale skin luminous as pearl, her fangs buried deep in Mykhol's throat.Then darkness swallowed them again, leaving only the hungry crackle of flames and Naska's world crumbling to ash."My… lord?" The words scraped from her throat like broken glass, barely more than a whisper. She couldn't breathe—couldn't think—couldn't look away from the sight that was tearing her apart from the inside out.The scent of smoke should have been comforting, should have reminded her of winter evenings and warmth. Instead, it seemed to coil around her lungs like a noose, choking her with its bitter thickness. But worse—so much worse—was the metallic sweetnes
*MYKHOL* If Mykhol could move any faster, he would have. Every step that carried them away from the Great Hall—away from the suffocating blue eyes, from the endless noise and speculation—felt like stealing something forbidden and delicious. Each stride was a victory, his leather boots striking the marble with deliberate precision. The storm of whispers and the prince's frantic voice were already fading behind them, swallowed by the echoing stillness of the palace's white stone halls that stretched before them like a sanctuary.Gods, finally we can be alone.His grip on Ana’s waist was firm, possessive, his fingertips pressing through the silk of her gown to feel the warmth of her body beneath. , her weight settling against his side like a secret he'd finally claimed. Dazed and pale, with her silver lashes casting delicate shadows on her cheeks—the sight of her so vulnerable, so easily led—sent a pulse of dark satisfaction coursing through his veins. He forced his smile to remain sof
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