Once the heir to a noble house built on deception, manipulation, and cruelty, Ellis has been magically bound to something she was never meant to embrace—truth itself. Unable to lie, struggling against a magic that judges her every thought, she has fallen for a kind soul who pushes her to become more than she is. When a plague sweeps through a quarry town, Ellis and her companions take up the quest to heal the dying. But her past still shackles her, and her magic resists her touch. No matter how hard she tries, it isn’t enough. She must change—truly change—or they will all die. This is a single chapter short story. It has also been published on Archive of Our Own here. The cover image is AI generated - if I ever do anything commercially with this story, then I'll see about commissioning something.