Some powers are meant to be wielded.Others must be listened to. On her sixteenth birthday, Vaelira Thorne hears the grove whisper her name. Hidden beyond the ordinary world lies the Veilbound Grove-an ancient academy where elemental forces are not conquered, but respected. Fire teaches will. Water remembers. Air invites change. Earth holds truth. And something else waits between them. When a forgotten force begins to stir, Vaelira is drawn into secrets the Academy tried to bury-secrets tied to a vanished father, a sealed rift between worlds, and a legacy no one was meant to inherit. As boundaries strain and old choices resurface, Vaelira must decide what it truly means to protect balance-not by ruling power, but by standing between it. Vaelira Thorne and the Veilbound Grove is the first book in The Veilbound Cycle, an elemental fantasy of wonder, memory, and courage for readers who believe magic is not about control-but choice.