The Thornwood Oath
Maren Ashcroft has spent years carving out a quiet life in the Drestwood Inn, skinning hares by candlelight and guiding travelers along the forgotten paths of the Thornwood. She wants nothing from the feuding noble houses that bleed gold and grudges across the kingdom , until the night Sir Caelan Drest crashes through her door, rain streaming from his cloak and a blood-bound oath already on his tongue. Bound by a code she never agreed to, Maren is dragged from the inn's hearth into a conspiracy threading through the Drest family, where Lord Halvern Drest's ambitions hide behind courtly smiles and Lady Saoirse Verant trades secrets in shadowed corridors. Wren Torvash and Gareth Vane circle the edges of the plot with questions that cut too close, while Bryn Halloway offers the only voice of reason in a world unraveling at the seams. As the Thornwood itself begins to stir , ancient, watchful, and unwilling to forgive , Maren must decide whether to honor a stranger's oath or watch every road she knows swallowed by fire and consequence. Her choice will determine whether the kingdom stands or falls beneath the thorns.