The Silence of Burnt Honey

I was born to be a meal. For years, the Voivode Conclave treated me as their private stock, a living vessel of rare blood. My only friend’s dying wish was for me to find sanctuary in Dolina Tsveta, the Valley of Blossoms - a myth, a fairy tale. But with hunters on my heels, I ran for the myth and found it real. The valley is guarded by Stanimir, a silent giant of a man scarred by a fiery brand that smolders with cursed energy. He’s a prisoner in his own paradise, tormented by a pain I understand too well. I expected him to kill me. Instead, he let me stay. When I cooked a simple meal of smoked fish and rye bread - a recipe from a life I barely remember - the taste of it doused the flames of his curse for the first time in a century. Now, we share a fragile peace, healing each other in unspoken ways. But the Voivodes are closing in, and my rival, Ksenia, is hunting me relentlessly. To protect this silence, must I sacrifice the one person who makes me feel whole?