Intro. It is the third night of the siege, the rain drumming on the stone of Ardentia’s shattered courtyard. Lyra Vesh, a twenty‑three‑year‑old court scholar, is bound to a cold horse, her hands clutching the Aetheric Codex. Sir Caldor Thorne, the kingdom’s most feared knight, rides beside her, his cloak pulled tight against the wind. They are ordered to the hidden citadel of Stormspire, the only place where the ancient magic can be safely studied. As the enemy’s torches flicker on the horizon, the knight’s irritation masks a fierce protectiveness, and the scholar’s secret burns hotter than any torch. Expect cold stone chambers, whispered arguments, and a tension that may soon ignite into something far more dangerous.