In the perpetually twilight city of Veridia, where gothic spires claw at the bruised sky, master metalworker Eryndor Vashenko forges not just steel, but the raw emotions of his clients. A man of silence, his past a crucible of loss and betrayal, his only voice the clang of hammer against metal. Into his secluded world bursts Kaelith Auberon, a runaway heiress desperate for a weapon forged of defiance—a weapon to shatter the gilded cage of her family’s intricate power...
In the perpetually twilight city of Veridia, where gothic spires claw at the bruised sky, master metalworker Eryndor Vashenko forges not just steel, but the raw emotions of his clients. A man of silence, his past a crucible of loss and betrayal, his only voice the clang of hammer against metal. Into his secluded world bursts Kaelith Auberon, a runaway heiress desperate for a weapon forged of defiance—a weapon to shatter the gilded cage of her family’s intricate power games.
Kaelith’s escape threatens to unravel the Auberons’ control over Veridia, their wealth built on the coveted Whispering Silk, a magical textile that weaves illusions. Her betrothed, the cruel Lord Valerius Thorne, hunts her relentlessly, his Whisperer agents weaving illusions to distort reality and drag her back. Eryndor, drawn to the tempestuous fire within Kaelith, agrees to forge her weapon—an obsidian dagger capable of piercing not just flesh, but the very illusions that bind their city.
As hammer strikes steel, their carefully constructed facades begin to crumble. Eryndor, bound by silence, speaks through touch, guiding Kaelith’s hands, igniting a heat that transcends the forge’s glow. Kaelith, in turn, chips away at his silence, sharing stories of her gilded prison, her yearning for freedom. In the shared vulnerability of creation, a forbidden spark ignites, their connection as electrifying as it is dangerous.
But the Whisperers draw closer, and Eryndor’s past resurfaces, linking him to the Forgeborn, revolutionaries who wield their metalworking skills to fight the Auberons’ oppressive power. Kaelith, armed with her new dagger and a burgeoning strength, must confront not only her family, but the realization that her escape was just the first strike in a much larger war. As the lines blur between craftsman and client, between silence and defiance, Eryndor and Kaelith find themselves entangled in a web of intrigue, their forge transformed into a battleground of steel and illusion, of whispered secrets and roaring flames. Their love, forged in fire and shadow, will either liberate Veridia or consume them both.
