Chapter 2 Exile Beneath the Red Moon

Cassia bled into the altar.

Not with blades, but with memory.

The moment she said yes, the temple changed. The marble warmed beneath her knees. The winds returned-whispering her name as if the desert itself recognized her.

Cassia...

The voice of Velarion, the outlawed god of forbidden love and wrath, coiled through the air like smoke.

"I am the thorn in every rose. The fire behind every kiss. They buried me beneath stone and silence-but you... you remember me."

Cassia closed her eyes. And the memories came like waves.

Her mother's laughter echoing in the courtyard.

The scent of jasmine in the temple garden.

Marcus, whispering I love you beneath the stars-before he handed her to death.

The god did not ask for her blood. He asked for her rage.

And she gave it to him.

The altar drank it in. The laurel crown, dead and brittle, bloomed with thorns. Vines slithered up her arms, branding her skin with runes of old-the language of gods who had once ruled before emperors.

Velarion's voice pulsed inside her mind.

"You have been wronged. Betrayed. Cast aside. Now rise, Cassia of the Thorns. Become what they fear."

She awoke with power burning in her veins.

The heat no longer stung her skin. The sun no longer blinded her. When she walked, the sand moved aside as if bowing to her fury.

By the time she reached the outer villages, whispers followed her.

A woman with eyes like flame.

A name once noble, now cursed.

A storm in a girl's shape.

In the shadows of a ruined amphitheater, she met the man who would become her first ally-and her second mistake.

Titus Fane was watching her long before she saw him. Former gladiator. Current outlaw. With a voice like gravel and a grin that hid a thousand knives.

"You look like hell," he said, when she collapsed at his campfire.

"I've been through worse."

He poured her water. She didn't thank him.

"Name?"

She looked him dead in the eye. "Cassia is dead."

He raised a brow. "Then what should I call you?"

She stared into the flames.

"...Call me Thorn."