Description
The fire was meant to die. Instead, it waits. Whispers say the Flameborn always burn-villages, kingdoms, themselves. Ash follows where they walk, and none survive the fire for long. None, until Theodora. Months have passed and still she carries the ember inside her, a secret that breathes beneath her skin. She does not know why it chose her, or how long before it consumes her. The crown hunts her, desperate to claim what they fear and cannot control. Captain Daren leads the chase, bound to deliver her alive. Yet with every step, the stories he trusts begin to fray, and the line between monster and myth grows thin. All paths lead north, into the Dark Wood-a place whispered to hunger for trespassers, where curses linger and shadows keep their own counsel. If Theodora enters, she may never return. But the fire stirs. It remembers what was lost. And it will not be silent forever.
Prologue
