In the poverty-stricken villages of northern Adruimor, survival comes at a price—and sometimes, that price is your child.

Fourteen-year-old Rellius failed to stop his mother from selling his little sister to the Snatchers, a brutal trafficking caravan that deals in flesh under the Empire’s blind eye. Haunted by guilt and driven by rage, he leaves everything behind to track the caravan’s trail across frozen roads and hollowed-out towns.

When he meets another young girl destined for the same fate as his sister, Rellius knows he has to save her. But the world doesn’t care about promises made by starving boys.
And in The Gilded Empire, no child is ever truly safe.

Set before the events of Thorns of Fate, this dark fantasy prequel explores the weight of impossible choices, the cruelty of survival, and the ember of resistance that even the youngest can carry.

"The Gilded Children"

by Miranda Howman