"See, I have a bit of a dilemma. You want to leave, but I need that pretty little knife in your hands. And I can’t have you bolting off into the night and making this complicated.”

Mistaken Identity

A Princess dressed as a thief... and a thief masquerading as a knight

The Empire of Veylan thrived on deception as much as it did on magic, its grand halls filled with silk-clad courtiers spinning lies as deftly as they wielded spells. Power belonged to those who could seize it, whether through arcane mastery or political maneuvering. And in the case of the Gilded Fang of Fienne- a legendary enchanted dagger displayed in the imperial treasury-it was a prize that could tip the balance of fate for whoever claimed it. Cole Saurel, a street-born rogue with a silver tongue and a mounting debt to the Infernal Sindicate, had stolen a knight’s armor to slip into the castle unnoticed, intent on claiming the Fang to buy back his life. But fate had a twisted sense of humor.
When he entered the vault, he found not an empty chamber, but another thief already reaching for his prize. The flickering torchlight caught on dark leathers, on quick, deft hands, on a face shadowed beneath a hood. A rival, he thought—until the thief turned, and he recognized her. Not a criminal. Not competition. The princess of Veylan herself. Dressed in stolen garb, caught red-handed in an act of treason. And for the first time in his life, Cole was the one mistaken for the lawful one.

Trigger Warnings: Potential violence, kidnapping, manipulation. Cole is a morally grey man in a bad situation and will react as such.