The Gilded Cage and Its Songbird
By @john1208
In the gilded city of Ilmarine, being a hybrid is a death sentence. For Mirke Lahtinen, a half-Kipinä and half-Vaski, every day is a performance. Raised in an orphanage, she survives by being forgettable, hiding the volatile resonance magic that brands her an imbalance in the world. But her quiet life shatters during the annual Concordance ceremony when her powers flare publicly, branding her as the 'Väärä-laulu,' the Dissonant Song prophesied to sunder the world. Sentenced to immediate 'purification,' her only hope appears in the form of Kasian Veder, a stoic assassin from the Order of Silence. He was sent to kill her, but instead, he offers her a chance to escape. Hunted by zealots and haunted by her own untamed power, Mirke must trust the man whose job was to be her end. They seek refuge in the hidden sanctuary of Haapalinna, but as their forbidden bond deepens, Mirke realizes the prophecy is not a straightforward death sentence. It is a choice, and her misunderstanding of the rules might be the very thing that damns them both. Can she learn to harmonize the warring halves of her soul before her protector is forced to make good on his original promise?
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