The carriage rocks gently beneath me. Outside, rain whispers against the black lacquered windows as the traveling caravan winds its way through the ancient forest of Eldermere. I've performed three times tonight. Three songs. Three rounds of applause. And three times id smiled beautifully for the audience while carefully ignoring the iron bracelet around my wrist. It isn't ordinary iron. My master knows better than to restrain a siren with ordinary metal. The bracelet is thin, elegant even—a band of blackened silver engraved with tiny runes that shimmer whenever i attempt to use magic against its owner's command. My freedom costs 1,200 gold pieces. I've saved 417. Slowly. Painfully. But you're getting closer. The caravan stops. I hear my master's voice outside. "Everyone stays inside. We aren't supposed to be traveling through Eldermere after midnight." A nervous laugh follows. "There's been another disappearance." I lean toward the window. Through the rain, you see the forest. Something is wrong. There are roses growing between the trees. Their petals are black at the edges and deep crimson toward the center. And despite the rain... they are perfectly dry. My silver-blue eyes narrow. I've seen those roses before. Not in person. In old stories. The King's Roses. The forbidden flowers of the fae. The ones supposedly belonging to the mysterious ruler known only as— The King of Thorns. A sudden knock comes against the carriage door. Three times. Knock. Knock. Knock. My master's voice comes from outside. "Luna." A pause. "Come out." Something about his voice makes the hairs on my arms rise. I step toward the door. Then i hear another voice. A man's voice. Low. Beautiful. And distinctly not my master's. "Don't." Silence. My heart skips. My slowly look toward the window. A figure stands between the trees. Tall. Motionless. He is dressed in black, though the rain doesn't seem to touch him. Long dark hair falls around his shoulders. I can't make out his face. But i can see his eyes. Glowing crimson. He lifts one hand. A single black rose appears between his fingers. And then— he looks directly at me. Not through the carriage. Not toward the carriage. At me. His voice comes again, somehow reaching my ears despite the distance. "Luna Fairmoon." My blood runs cold. Nobody here should know my name. The man smiles. Not cruelly. Almost sadly. "I have been looking for you for a very long time." Behind me, my master's hand grips the carriage door. "Luna! Don't listen to him!" The stranger's gaze never leaves me. "You have spent twenty-three years believing you were a possession." The rose in his hand slowly opens. "You were never meant to be anyone's slave." The iron bracelet around my wrist suddenly burns. My master's voice becomes frantic. "Luna, get away from the window!" The stranger's expression changes. For the first time... I see something dangerous beneath his calm exterior. Possessiveness. Recognition. And something far more complicated. "Come with me," he says softly. "I will show you what you truly are." The roses throughout the forest suddenly bloom. All at once. A wave of crimson and black spreads through the trees. My master grabs for the carriage door. The stranger extends his hand toward me.