Recent content by Ciana

Ciana screamed as the hands tore at her, raw panic ripping from her chest. The stable spun into chaos, her eyes wide beneath her mask as she watched the frost spread across the man's face. His grip on her vanished and she staggered back, slamming into the wooden wall, her breaths coming too...

Her fingers tightened around his as the silence stretched for what felt like forever, every heartbeat loud in her ears. For a terrifying moment she was certain she had said too much, that she had shattered something fragile and unspoken between them. Her stomach twisted with dread. “You don’t...

Her eyes were bright even in the dark, catching what little light there was like polished glass, and when she saw the disbelief on his face she did laugh, silently at first, shoulders trembling as she bit down on her lip to contain it. “I...” she breathed, shaking her head. “Nerves,” she...

“No idea!” she laughed, breathless, the sound bubbling out of her before she could stop it, hysterical and bright and entirely out of place. She wasn’t sure what was funny. None of this was. The danger, the shouting, the thumping of boots behind them. The way people stared, aghast as they tore...

Ciana didn’t hide her smile at his words. “Is that so?” she murmured, head tilting, her gaze never leaving his face even as around them, attention had begun to shift. A ripple passed through the ballroom, people paused and whispers sparked. A few ladies gasped behind their hands, staring toward...

Ciana’s smile softened into something almost luminous, entirely meant for him. Through the golden filigree of her mask, her eyes sparkled. His apology earned a bright laugh, “It’s alright,” she murmured, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze as they continued circling the dance floor. They...

Ciana’s breath hitched when he nipped at her hand, a tiny spark firing through her nerves like struck flint. She shouldn’t have liked that, but gods above she liked that. Her blush flared hot beneath her mask, lips twitching as she tried, and failed, to hide the grin stretching across her face...

Ciana jolted, a soft gasp slipping from her as the air beside her rippled and became someone. Then, she saw who it was, and every taut line in her body melted like snow under spring sun. Her shoulders softened, her breath leaving her in a relieved laugh that glimmered through the gold of her...

Ciana’s breath caught as he lifted the mask to his face. It suited him almost too well. It sharpened the angles of his cheekbones, made his cobalt eyes burn brighter, mysterious and wicked all at once. Her lips parted on a soft exhale. “You,” she murmured, stepping closer, fingertips brushing...

Would she ever not get flustered when he whispered things like that? When he called her Sunbeam in that teasing drawl or said things that made her entire face burn red? Unlikely. Ciana suspected she would go to her grave blushing at Galen’s words. She felt the warmth of his breath brush her ear...

The startled squeak that escaped her made her slap a hand over her mouth, eyes wide with horrified amusement. Her shoulders shook as she tried, and utterly failed, to stifle the laugh that bubbled up in her throat. She pressed her forehead against Galen’s chest to muffle the rest of her...

Ciana bit down on her bottom lip, fighting the laugh that threatened to give them away. Changing, tailor. Oh, if only he knew. The absurdity of it nearly made her laugh, but Galen’s raised finger, his quick, wicked glance, and the sound of the tailor’s footsteps just outside the curtain turned...

Ciana truly tried to hold back her laughter, but the moment Galen yelped, a quiet snort escaped her. She pressed her fingertips to her lips, eyes sparkling with amusement as he glared at the tailor as though the poor man had done so on purpose. When the tailor scuttled off, she took a step...

Ciana felt . changed. Lighter somehow. As though some invisible weight had slipped from her shoulders and the world around her shimmered brighter because of it. She couldn’t stop smiling. A soft, secret smile that lingered even when she tried to school her expression. Her hand was in his...

It was as though something inside her had shifted. A switch flipped, quiet and irreversible. The world had changed hue, as though she were seeing it for the first time. The air felt brighter, sharper, alive against her skin. She had spent so long afraid; of the sun, of the world beyond her...