The ancient forest, eternal twilight, whispered secrets, was Elara's sanctuary. She moved as a phantom in the sunless heart of its shadowy depths. The trees were her dance partners, and the rhythm of the earth beat in their every step. Her eyes shone dark as a moonless night, revealing nothing and everything all at once. A heart as wild as the untamed wilderness beat beneath her breast, a heart that had never known the softness of light, nor the warmth of love. To the villagers, she was a creature of myth, the forest witch who communed with spirits, bending nature to her will.
Elara's power was a dangerous gift-one of life and death in the forest at a price she'd never escape. The whispers that the spirits made her ear often weren't kindly spoken. They demanded blood and every sacrifice she made darkened her soul a little further. But she had long since learned to live with it. It was all she knew, all she had ever wanted: to be one with the forest, to lose herself in the eternal embrace of shadow.
But Prince Kaelan, heir to the throne, was not like the others. He had heard tales of the forest witch - the wild woman who could speak to the wind and command the trees - and he was intrigued. Kaelan was raised within the golden halls of the kingdom, surrounded by luxury and comfort. He yearned for something more. For something raw. Something to fuel the parts of him smothered by duty and privilege. The pull of the forest was irresistible, like the siren call to a man starved for something more beyond his rigid world.
When their paths crossed for the first time, it was by chance, or perhaps fate. He found her standing under an ancient oak, fingers brushing against the bark, a serene face yet inscrutable. Her eyes met his, and in that moment, Kaelan knew he was lost. There was power in her gaze, something otherworldly, something dangerous. And in that gaze, he saw his own desire reflected: a hunger for the unknown, a longing for a forbidden kind of love.
Their first meeting was electric, charged with tension neither of them could deny. What started as a mere curiosity grew into an obsession. They met in secret, hidden from the prying eyes of the court, their stolen moments filled with whispered confessions and fiery kisses. The forest became their refuge, a place where they could be themselves - where Kaelan could shed the weight of his title and Elara could embrace the darkness within her.
Even within the forest sanctuary, the shadow of the King loomed large. King Darian was Kaelan's father and a man of unyielding tradition. His rule was absolute, and he would not tolerate defiance, especially from his only son. The love between Kaelan and Elara was an affront to everything the King held sacred, a blight upon the royal bloodline. The mere idea of his son, the future king, associating with a woman who was nothing but a shadow creature, filled him with rage.