The Shadow's Tithe

The Shadow’s Tithe To save the world’s light, she must become its darkness. In the Empire of Aethelgard, the sun never sets, and the "Void-Blighted" are executed to keep it that way. Born under a blackened moon, Elara has spent nineteen years as her family’s greatest shame—a "curse" hidden in the cellar while her twin sister, the Sun-Blessed, is worshipped as a living saint. When the Solar Archon—the empire’s holy, burning executioner—demands a "Vessel" to absorb the world’s accumulated sins, Elara’s family finally finds a use for her. They sell her into a Sacred Union, a marriage intended to end in her slow, agonizing consumption. The Archon is no savior. He is a man of white-hot responsibility, physically incinerating anyone he touches. He expects a weak sacrifice; instead, he finds a woman whose "shadows" are the only thing that can soothe his eternal fire. But as the ritual begins, the first cracks in the empire’s foundation appear. Elara discovers that her sister’s world-saving prophecy was a calculated forgery—a lie written in the stars to keep Elara from realizing the truth. She was never a curse. She is the Architect. And as her power wakes, she must decide: will she save the empire that branded her a monster, or will she let the sun finally go down?