Every thirteen years, a Blood Moon bride is sent to the Unnamed King—and the village calls it mercy.

 

When her little sister is nearly taken, Liora, a sharp-tongued healer, steps into the bargain herself, expecting a monster and a quick death.

 

Instead, she finds Kael, an immortal king in iron chains, cursed to serve a faceless god that feeds on devotion and stolen true names. Each ritual drags him closer to becoming the legend Alderfen fears—and each bride he’s forced to accept disappears into the altar’s hunger.

 

But Liora refuses the script. In a fortress that remembers, she hears the Remnants of past brides whispering through stone and shadow, and she begins to uncover the truth behind the Bone Altar and the Heart of the curse—an engine fueled by worship, blood, and identity.

 

To break the cycle, Liora and Kael must reclaim what was taken and defy a deity that would rather burn the world than loosen its grip.

 

Some bonds are chosen. Some rebellions are consummated.