phoebebyrd
Step into Aether, an empire of brass and steam, where industrial progress chokes the sky and devotion survives in the smallest, most dangerous moments.
Edelweiss Montgomery was raised in the last vestiges of the Gaia Plains' pastoral quiet, a land long ignored by the empire's machines. But Aether's reach is tightening. Smog drifts farther each year. Census takers arrive where they never have before. And with them comes the Tithing.
The Tithing is the empire's most sacred tradition and its most closely guarded crime: one young woman taken from each province, promised education, refinement, and a better life in the Aether's capital, Moonspire. In truth, the chosen are evaluated, auctioned, or discarded. And no one knows what happens to the discarded.
Assigned to escort Edel into this system is Aryn, a knight of the empire. She's disciplined, restrained, and bound by oath. She is meant to be Edel's keeper, her shield, and ultimately her jailer. Instead, Aryn becomes the one person who sees her clearly, who hesitates where obedience is expected, and who risks everything for Edel.
This preview offers a glimpse into The Tithing at its most intimate: a charged encounter between two women navigating power, proximity, and forbidden desire... where every touch carries consequence, and longing itself becomes an act of rebellion.