🌷 Chapter One: The Girl Beneath the Moonlight
The wind whispered through the silver trees, carrying the scent of wild lavender. Beneath the pale moon, Elara stood by the lake's edge, her reflection rippling like a dream she wasn't sure belonged to her. In her village, she was known as the girl who spoke to stars—quiet, strange, always lost in her thoughts. But tonight felt different. The stars seemed to listen back.
A soft light shimmered across the lake, and the water stirred as if breathing. Then she saw him.
He emerged from the mist—tall, cloaked in midnight blue, eyes glimmering like frost-kissed fire. His name was Kael, though she didn't know it yet. All she felt was the sudden, trembling pull of fate.
"You shouldn't be here," he said gently, his voice low, almost breaking the stillness around them.
Elara's lips parted. "Neither should you."
He smiled then, and something inside her shifted—like the moment before dawn, when darkness learns how to fade.
They stood there, silence woven between them, hearts speaking a language older than time. When Kael stepped closer, the air warmed; his presence felt like a melody she'd been waiting to hear.
"I've watched over this forest for a long time," he said. "But I've never seen anyone make the moonlight bend toward them."
Elara blushed, eyes downcast. "Maybe the moon is just lonely."
Kael's gaze softened. "Then perhaps it has found a friend tonight."
The lake shimmered brighter, as if blessing their meeting. Neither of them knew that destiny had already written their names side by side in the constellations above.
Under that sacred glow, a story began—not of kingdoms or crowns, but of two souls who found each other beneath the moonlight.