What the Fire Leaves
In a kingdom where blades are forged to break and hearts are hardened to survive, Seren Voss is the only blacksmith whose hands never tremble, though the forge's apprentice, Rhea, works beside her with a hammer that keeps its own relentless count. When Cael Druun walks through the door of their smithy bearing an order for knives unlike any they've ever shaped, the last thing Seren expects is the heat that flares between them. Maren Voss, her sister, warns her to send him away. Torren, the grizzled mercenary who lingers at the forge's edge, recognizes something dangerous in Cael's quiet composure. Puck, the orphan boy who sweeps the floors, sees only a hero. And Vessa, the healer from across the mountains, knows what fire truly takes. But Cael has come for more than steel. An old war is rising, and Seren is the only smith alive who can forge what he needs. As the flames climb higher and loyalties begin to shatter, she must decide whether the fire will consume everything she loves, or whether what remains will finally be hers to claim.