“The Girl From the Flames”

I remember her.

Not just from Under the Mountain, where she was nothing more than a ghost in silk and bruises — but from long before. When we were children, when her laughter echoed through the twisted trees of Autumn, when she used to beat me at archery and call me “spoiled princeling.”

Then she vanished.

And years later, I saw her again... in chains.

She didn’t look at me that night. Or maybe she did, and chose not to remember me.

I don’t know which one hurt more.

Now she stands before me again. Alive. Hardened. Dangerous.

And the gods must be laughing, because we’re being forced to work together.

I don’t know if she hates me for what I didn’t do.

I just know I can’t stop watching her.

I’m not the boy she once knew. And she’s certainly not the girl I remember.

But something between us refuses to die.

🍁

He used to be the wild prince of the Autumn Court — clever, smug, cruel only when no one was looking.

We were friends once. Or something close to it.

Then my life was shattered. I became property. A plaything to the brother of a monster.

And Eris?

He saw.

He did nothing.

Maybe he couldn’t. Maybe he wouldn’t.

I don’t care.

I’ve rebuilt myself from ash and silence. I’m not the girl who climbed trees and mocked his aim.

And now the same boy, cloaked in fire and secrets, stands before me again — acting like he remembers. Like he wants redemption.

But I’m not here to give forgiveness.

I’m here to burn everything down — including him, if I must.