“There are stories yet untold,
-Untold Stories
hidden ‘neath your bed, they fold.
Waiting now for evening’s peak
’round your room, they stretch, they sneak.
If they find you listening still,
They may tell you what they will.”
At Vale House, every girl knows the stories.
Once a year, on the longest night, three girls are chosen for the Telling. They climb the stairs to a room used only on Solstice, drink from silver cups, and wait for the Somnira.
The Night Spirits come while they sleep.
They weave stories of lives beyond the orphanage walls. Of who the girls might become. Of where they might belong.
This year, Elara, Lio, and Senna are chosen.
But something about their stories feels wrong.
And as the longest night gives way to morning, the three girls are left with memories they cannot explain, questions no one seems willing to answer, and the unsettling sense that something inside Vale House has changed.
Or perhaps they have.
Some stories are meant to be remembered.
Some are meant to be believed.
