The Thornbound Queen
Wren Ashcroft is dragged before the Conclave of Velis in chains, her wrists bound with rope that stings of pitch and sorcery. She is accused of wielding a magic that burns silver from her skin, an old power the realm long ago declared heresy, punishable by ash and iron. But the judges who meant to destroy her have made a grave miscalculation: the silver is still spreading, and it answers to no law but its own. As factions within the Conclave scheme to place the crown on whoever can control her, Wren is offered an impossible bargain by the exiled lord Ash Thornevale, a man bound to the wild god known as the Thornmother. He claims the silver in her blood is the key to a crown older than any in the capital, but the thorns demand a queen who will not flinch from the cost. With her loyal guard Maren Velis, the watchful healer Yenna, and the enigmatic Dain Usk at her side, Wren is drawn into a web of prophecy, courtly betrayal, and ancient magic. The deeper she reaches for the truth, the more she must choose: be the sacrifice the Conclave requires, the weapon Ash desires, or the queen the thorns have always been waiting for.