A Crown of Salt and Thorns
When the ice on Vanthe Lake splits open to reveal a summons meant only for Theron Ashcroft, the exiled prince abandons his chisel and answers a call he has spent years trying to silence. His brother Riven has already seized the crown their father, King Aldric, can no longer hold. Across the realm, Queen Selene Vanthe watches from the high keep with her daughters Maren and Lyssa at her side, knowing that a fractured court invites war from beyond the frozen shore. What stirs beneath the thaw is older than any kingdom , a binding tied to the bloodlines of Ashcroft and Vanthe alike, a crown forged from the salt of drowned gods and the thorns of a forgotten queen. Dame Elara, the realm's oldest sworn shield, urges Theron home to claim his birthright. Mara Voss, a woman who speaks for the sea itself, warns him that every monarch who has worn the crown has been swallowed by it. Theo Bryne's loyalty is torn between the brothers he once loved equally. Lyssa carries visions she cannot silence. Maren alone seems to understand what the crown truly demands , and what it will take from each of them. To end a winter that has lasted seven generations, Theron must walk back into the court he fled, face a brother who no longer trusts him, and decide whether the crown's terrible price is worth paying , or whether he must shatter it and risk losing everything, including the family he has left.