Chapter 1 - Chapter 1: The Most Dramatic Entrance in History

Maya Chen had always believed that life couldn't get much worse than being a failed fashion designer with seventeen dollars in her bank account and a landlord who left increasingly creative threats under her door. She was spectacularly wrong.It all started with the pendant.She'd found it gleaming in a puddle outside her favorite coffee shop, probably dropped by some careless tourist. The rational part of her brain—the part that balanced checkbooks and remembered to eat actual meals—told her to take it to the lost and found. The artistic part, however, was already imagining how the intricate silver design would look against different fabrics."Finders keepers," she muttered, slipping the pendant into her jacket pocket. After the day she'd had—three more rejection letters and a particularly brutal critique from a fashion blogger who'd called her designs "aggressively mediocre"—she deserved something beautiful.Back in her cramped studio apartment, surrounded by fabric scraps and half-finished sketches, Maya examined her find more closely. The pendant was unlike anything she'd ever seen, with delicate engravings that seemed to shift and move in the lamplight. At its center sat a stone that looked like captured moonlight, cool and mysterious.Almost without thinking, she fastened the chain around her neck. The metal felt warm against her skin, and for a moment, she could have sworn she heard something—like distant music or whispered words. But exhaustion was catching up with her, and her eyes were already growing heavy."Just a quick nap," she yawned, not bothering to change out of her clothes before collapsing onto her narrow bed.Maya expected to wake up to her usual routine of instant coffee and crushing disappointment. Instead, she woke up falling through the sky.The first thing that registered was the wind—howling past her ears like a freight train. The second was the ground, rushing up to meet her at an alarming speed. The third was her own voice, screaming at a pitch that probably shattered glass in three kingdoms."WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!"Below her, she could make out a dense forest canopy and what appeared to be a very intense sword fight taking place in a small clearing. Multiple men in dark clothing were surrounding a single figure who fought with the kind of fluid grace she'd only seen in movies.As she plummeted toward certain death, Maya found herself thinking two things: first, that this was definitely the weirdest dream she'd ever had, and second, that the lone fighter had really excellent form. Even from her rapidly descending vantage point, she could appreciate the way his muscles moved beneath his fitted black tunic.Then physics took over, and Maya Chen, failed fashion designer from Chicago, crash-landed directly on top of His Royal Majesty King Adrian Blackthorne of Valeria, taking them both down in a tangle of limbs and very undignified swearing.The impact knocked the breath from both of them, but Maya recovered first, probably because she'd landed on something considerably softer than the forest floor. That something was groaning beneath her, and when she looked down, she found herself staring into the most ridiculously beautiful face she'd ever seen.Golden-brown hair fell in waves around features that belonged in a Renaissance painting—sharp cheekbones, a strong jaw, and eyes the color of dark amber. His mouth, currently pressed into a grimace of pain, looked like it had been designed specifically to make women forget their own names."Are you an angel or a demon?" he asked breathlessly, his voice carrying an accent that made her toes curl in her sneakers."I'm a fashion designer," Maya replied automatically, then realized how insane that sounded. "I mean, I think I'm having a really weird breakdown. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"Before he could answer, the sound of running feet made them both look up. The men who'd been fighting Adrian were fleeing into the forest, apparently deciding that mysterious women falling from the sky was where they drew the line."Well," Adrian said, still flat on his back with Maya straddling his waist in a position that was becoming increasingly awkward, "that's the first time I've been saved by divine intervention. Usually, I have to rely on superior swordsmanship."Maya tried to scramble off him, but as soon as her palms touched his chest to push herself up, the world exploded in light. She felt rather than saw strange symbols burning themselves into her right palm, the sensation somewhere between a bad sunburn and the most intense tingling she'd ever experienced.Adrian sucked in a sharp breath, his own right hand flying up to mirror hers. When the light faded, they both stared at their palms in shock. Identical marks had appeared—intricate designs that looked like intertwining vines forming a heart, glowing faintly silver against their skin."MAYA CHEN AND ADRIAN BLACKTHORNE," a voice boomed from nowhere and everywhere at once, making them both jump. "YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY DESTINY TO BE BOUND AS ONE. YOUR LIVES ARE NOW CONNECTED. APART, YOU WILL WEAKEN AND DIE. TOGETHER, YOU WILL FIND STRENGTH BEYOND MEASURE. THE BOND CANNOT BE BROKEN."Maya stared at the mark on her palm, then at Adrian, then back at her palm. "Excuse me, what now?"Adrian was having his own crisis. "Bound? Die? I didn't consent to this! I have a kingdom to run!""I have student loans!" Maya added desperately. "And a cat! Well, it's my neighbor's cat, but I feed it sometimes!"The voice didn't respond to their protests, leaving them sitting in a forest clearing, still tangled together and now apparently magically married by some cosmic force with questionable timing."This is not happening," Maya said firmly. "This is definitely a stress-induced hallucination brought on by too much caffeine and not enough sleep. Any minute now, I'm going to wake up on my lumpy mattress and laugh about this."Adrian carefully helped her to her feet, his hands gentle despite the sword calluses. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think you're hallucinating. That mark on your hand matches mine exactly, and I can feel..." He paused, looking confused. "I can feel your emotions. You're terrified but trying to hide it with humor.""Well, that's invasive," Maya muttered, then noticed he was right. She could sense his feelings too—confusion, frustration, and underneath it all, a growing curiosity about her that made her cheeks heat. "Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad.""Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private," Adrian suggested, gesturing to his sword, which lay forgotten in the grass. "Those assassins might return with reinforcements, and I'd prefer not to explain why I'm having a mystical crisis with a woman who fell from the sky."Maya looked around the forest, reality finally starting to sink in. The trees were wrong—too tall, too green, species she'd never seen before. The air smelled different, cleaner but with an underlying scent of woodsmoke and something else she couldn't identify. And the man beside her was dressed like he'd stepped out of a period drama, complete with leather bracers and a sword that definitely wasn't a prop."I'm not dreaming, am I?" she asked quietly."I'm afraid not." Adrian's voice was gentler now, and she caught a glimpse of kindness beneath his royal composure. "You're in Valeria, about fifty miles south of the capital. The year is 1547, and you, my mysterious savior, have just been magically bonded to a king who was having a perfectly normal assassination attempt before you dropped in."Maya felt her knees go weak. "1547? As in, the sixteenth century? As in, no indoor plumbing or women's rights or coffee shops?""We have wine," Adrian offered helpfully."Oh God." Maya sat down heavily on a fallen log. "I'm trapped in a historical romance novel. With actual historical diseases and probable death by childbirth and—" She looked up at him with sudden horror. "Please tell me you at least brush your teeth."Adrian blinked at her, then threw back his head and laughed—a rich, warm sound that made something flutter in her chest despite her panic. "I assure you, my dental hygiene is excellent. Royal privilege includes regular tooth cleaning with the finest imported salt.""Salt," Maya repeated weakly. "Right. Of course."Before Adrian could respond, the mark on her hand flared with warmth, and Maya felt the strangest urge to stay close to him. The sensation was both comforting and alarming—like her body was trying to override her brain's very reasonable desire to panic."You feel it too," Adrian observed, studying her face. "The pull."Maya nodded reluctantly. "This is insane. I don't even know you. Yesterday my biggest problem was whether to have ramen or mac and cheese for dinner, and now I'm supposedly bound for life to a Renaissance king with really good hair.""Thank you?" Adrian said, looking bemused. "I think that was a compliment.""It was definitely a compliment," Maya admitted, then caught herself. "But that's not the point! The point is I need to get home. I have a life, responsibilities, a portfolio to finish—"The mark pulsed again, and suddenly Maya felt weak, like someone had drained half her energy. Adrian swayed slightly at the same moment, his hand going to his chest."It seems," he said carefully, "that separation anxiety is built into whatever this bond is. Perhaps we should stay close while we figure out how to... manage this situation."Maya wanted to argue, but the weakness was getting worse, and the rational part of her brain pointed out that being magically bound to a king was probably safer than wandering alone through a medieval forest."Fine," she sighed. "But I'm not calling you Your Majesty or whatever. This whole situation is weird enough without adding formal titles.""Adrian will suffice," he said solemnly, then ruined the effect by grinning. "And what should I call my mysterious queen who falls from the sky in strange garments?"Maya looked down at herself—jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt that read "Sarcasm: Just One More Service I Offer." In 1547, she probably looked like she was from another planet."Maya," she said. "And these aren't strange garments, they're called clothes that don't require three people to help you get dressed.""Fascinating," Adrian murmured, his eyes traveling over her outfit with obvious curiosity. "Perhaps you could show me more about your... customs... later."The way he said it, combined with the heat in his amber eyes, made Maya's pulse quicken in ways that had nothing to do with magical bonds and everything to do with the fact that he was ridiculously attractive and looking at her like she was the most interesting thing he'd ever encountered."We'll see," she managed, hoping her voice sounded steadier than she felt.As they started walking deeper into the forest, Maya couldn't help but think that if she had to be trapped in a historical romance, at least fate had given her a leading man who looked like he'd stepped off the cover of one of those bodice-ripper novels she secretly loved.Now if only she could figure out how to survive long enough to enjoy it.