A Kiss of Salt and Steel

Zivena Raskova was once the pride of the Ironwood Fencing Academy, a Blade-Dancer whose steel sang with deadly grace. Now, she's a disgrace, haunted by the one duel that shattered her reputation. To save her father, she trades her freedom for his, becoming a prisoner in the sky-piercing fortress of Grieze Spire, home to a monstrous beast of living shadow and jagged stone. But the Beast is no stranger. He is Lord Vorlag, the undefeated champion of a rival house - the very man she once burned to defeat. The curse has twisted him into a terrifying creature visible only to Zivena, while others see a ruin haunted by a phantom. The cure is a tale as old as time: a kiss of true love. But for two proud rivals, vulnerability is a more terrifying foe than any monster. As knights and glory-seekers lay siege to the Spire, Zivena and Vorlag must battle their inner demons and each other. But an unknown time limit ticks down, a creeping blight that withers the Spire's stone and Vorlag's soul. Can Zivena forge a bond strong enough to be called 'true love' before the fortress, and the man within, crumble to dust forever?