The kingdom of Aurelia was a symphony of light and wonder - a place where glass towers brushed the clouds and silver bridges shimmered with living magic.

Airships drifted lazily across a violet dawn, their engines powered by runestones that glowed like captured stars. The people of Aurelia lived among beauty - but beneath that brilliance lay shadows no one dared to name.

Inside the highest tower of the royal palace, hidden behind a maze of locked halls and invisible spells, lived Princess Elara Vale - the royal child no one knew existed.

To the world, she was a myth.

To her family, she was a secret born of love and fear.

And to herself... she was a ghost behind glass.

Every morning began with silence.

Elara woke to the sound of the city humming far below - the distant bells, the whisper of wings, the low vibration of airships moving through fog.

Her room was a golden cage - soft silk curtains, glowing walls that never faded with night, and a window that showed her everything but let her touch nothing.

She pressed her palm to the glass. The surface was warm with sunlight, but it never gave way. Beyond it, she could see the city sparkling - children running through floating parks, lights flickering in towers, people living lives she could only dream of.

She smiled, even when her heart ached. "Someday," she whispered. "Someday I'll see it all for myself."

Her tutor, Eren, entered with a bow. "Your Majesty, today's lessons begin with royal history."

Elara sighed softly. "Again?"

"Knowledge is the root of strength," he said kindly. "Even hidden flowers must grow."

She obeyed, but her thoughts drifted.

What use was royal history to a princess who would never rule - never even exist to her own people?

Her family loved her - that much she knew.

Her mother, Queen Seraphine, visited in secret when she could, her soft hands trembling every time she brushed Elara's hair.

"My little star," the queen always whispered. "If the world knew you, they would never let you go."

Her father, King Darius, was strong but distant. He never came to her chambers - not out of cruelty, but fear. His eyes always looked haunted when her name was spoken.

And then there were her siblings - her light in the dark.

Rowan, the crown prince, who sent her books with coded notes in the margins.

Amaris, the daring warrior sister who broke every rule for the people she loved.

Lysander and Leif, the clever twin brothers who taught her secret jokes through enchanted letters.

They were her world - and yet, even they could not give her freedom.

For seventeen years, Elara had been hidden because of a prophecy:

"The youngest of light will awaken what was lost and bring the shadows to rise again."

No one knew what it meant - but the council feared her. They whispered that her birth had stirred old powers, that her existence threatened the fragile balance between Aurelia and the forgotten Shadow Realm.

And so, she stayed locked away - for the kingdom's safety, they said.

But Elara knew the truth:

It wasn't safety they sought.

It was control.

That night, sleep found her restless. She drifted into a dream unlike any other.

She stood in a misty city, silver towers rising into clouds she had never seen. Neon lights flickered across rain-soaked streets. And there, among the shadows, stood a boy.

He was unfamiliar, yet his gray eyes burned with a strange familiarity. He reached out to her, lips parted as if he wanted to speak.

"Elara..."

The sound of her name sent a shiver through her. She tried to move toward him, but the ground rippled like water, pulling her away. The mist around him thickened, glowing runes floating like fireflies, forming shapes she almost recognized.

"The glass cannot hold you forever," he whispered, voice echoing like a song she didn't know she knew.

Then the vision cracked - shards of light scattering across the dreamscape. Elara woke with a gasp, heart racing, sweat dampening her hair. Her crescent moon pendant glowed softly, pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat.

Something - or someone - was calling her.

Someone tied to the prophecy.

Someone she would soon meet.

That morning, the peace shattered.

"Elara?" a voice called urgently.

Elara turned to see Amaris bursting into her chamber, armor still half-clasped, her expression fierce and frightened.

"Amaris!" Elara gasped. "What- what's wrong?"

Her sister didn't answer right away. Instead, she raised her holo-screen - a floating blue projection glowing between them.

The image flickered, and Elara's heart stopped.

It was her.

Younger, smiling faintly beneath a canopy of white blossoms - a photograph from long ago, taken when she still believed the palace gardens were the entire world.

Across the screen, the words blazed:

"THE FORGOTTEN PRINCESS OF AURELIA - TRUTH OR LEGEND?"

Elara's knees weakened. "That- that picture- it's impossible. It was erased."

"Someone leaked it," Amaris said. "Every news stream in the kingdom is showing it. The council is already panicking. They think the prophecy is starting."

Elara's mind spun. "So what do they plan to do?"

Amaris looked away. "They're going to move you. Somewhere underground. Permanently."

Elara's breath caught. "No..."

Amaris stepped closer, taking her trembling hands. "Listen to me. You've spent your whole life watching the world through glass. I won't let them bury you again. If you want freedom - truly want it - this is your moment."

Elara hesitated. "You're serious?"

Her sister smiled sadly. "You've dreamed of freedom your entire life. Dreams mean nothing if you never chase them."

From her pocket, Amaris pulled out a small, glowing crystal shaped like a wing. "Take this. It will guide you to Ravenport, the city at the edge of the kingdom."

Elara frowned. "Why there?"

"Because that's where he is."

"He?"

"A boy named Kael Arden," Amaris said quietly. "He works as a mechanic. He doesn't know who he is - not yet. But he's tied to you, Elara. To the prophecy. You'll understand when you meet him."

Before Elara could respond, the palace trembled. Alarms blared - deep, metallic, and magical. The floor glowed with ward symbols as guards shouted down the hall.

"They've activated the seal," Amaris said urgently. "You have seconds."

"But how-?"

Amaris grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the great window. "Remember what Mother taught you - light may protect, but it can also free."

Elara closed her eyes, her hand trembling against the glass.

She whispered, voice soft but steady:

"Let light open what shadow binds."

The glass rippled... and shattered outward like liquid gold.

Wind rushed into the room - cold, wild, real. For the first time in her life, she felt the air on her skin.

"Elara, go!" Amaris shouted. "Don't look back!"

Tears burned in Elara's eyes. She turned to her sister one last time.

"I'll come back," she promised. "And when I do, I'll make them see me."

Amaris smiled, her voice barely a whisper. "I know you will, little star."

Then Elara stepped out.

The wind caught her cloak, and for a heartbeat, she felt like she was flying - leaving behind everything she had ever known.

She landed hard on the grass below, the scent of rain and smoke flooding her senses. For the first time in seventeen years, she was *free*.

The palace lights flared behind her like a dying star as Elara ran into the forest.

Somewhere deep in the city, a signal pulsed - the same rhythm as her racing heart.

And in a dim workshop in Ravenport, Kael Arden woke with a gasp, his hand gripping the amulet around his neck.

It burned with blue fire, whispering a name he had never heard before...

"Elara."

He didn'tknow who she was.

But someone else did.

And they were already watching her.