A Crown of Hollow Vows
Ash falls on a kingdom that has forgotten why it fears the sky. Seraphina Coldhaven rides north at the head of a small company, chasing the silence of the First Riftwardens, ancient guardians who have stood watch over a sealed evil for generations. Their silence is the first sign that something old is stirring. Alongside her rides Vaelith Ashemark, a swordswoman bound to her by a blood-oath whose terms Seraphina has never been told, and whose loyalty may be a leash rather than a gift. At every step, shadow-walkers slip between the trees, and visions of Saint Ulreth, the exiled Malachar, and a spectral sister press against Seraphina's mind with warnings she cannot yet parse. Deep in the ruined archives of the Riftwardens, she uncovers the truth: the kingdom's peace was never victory. It was a bargain. The Hollow Road is a leash, the Crown is a key, and the Worm of Crowns waits beneath the seal, patient and hungry. To save her homeland, Seraphina must break the Ashfall Pact and risk becoming the very monster it was made to contain.