The Silver Curse

Runaway heir Rasp Stoneclaw was born cursed, prophesied to bring destruction to the world. Now exiled by the Stoneclaw tribe after his brothers drove him out, he lives under an assumed name. Far from the curse, of course. Meanwhile, Protector of the Realm Oralia Dawnsight—along with her team, the rebellious faithful four—is on the hunt for Rasp, ready to restore him to the throne for the small price of a trade route truce. She'll get Rasp to agree to a deal, and then they'll be on their way up the mountain path to install him as the new, peaceful leader of the Iron Ridge. Simple, right?

In the aftermath of runaway heir Rasp Stoneclaw's foiled attempts to escape the curse threatening to destroy his people, he's stuck under a mountain with Oralia Dawnsight, Protector of the Realm. So in other words, everything's going great. Oralia's plan to install the cursed Stoneclaw as the new leader of the Iron Ridge is, needless to say, in tatters. But Rasp has discovered something he didn't expect: while he may have been the one to awaken the curse in the first place, he also just might have what it takes to defeat it—provided the appeal of running away doesn't win out.

With the Realm fractured, the outlaws of the Iron Ridge are threatened from all sides. Aided by his mentor, Whisper, runaway heir—and newly ordained witch—Rasp Stoneclaw finally has a chance to see more of the world, beyond the ridge. He'd like to survive and keep his wits about him, but the darkness inside him has other ideas . . . including, unfortunately, cannibalism. Meanwhile, Ex-Protector of the Realm Oralia Dawnsight is struggling to come to terms with her new role as a traitor to the broken empire. Once, she dreamed of a glorious retirement.