The Wardens Oath

Some children inherit land.
Some inherit names.
Elisabeth Crowe inherited the dead.

Born from the third daughter of a third daughter, Elisabeth has always been watched by her village with quiet fear. Old laws cling to her shadow, laws no one will explain and rules no one admits still exist. When a grave fails to stay buried and the lanterns meant to guard the dead begin to go dark, Elisabeth's fate is sealed.

A stranger known only as the Warden arrives the night the dead start knocking.

Bound by an ancient oath older than the village itself, the Warden teaches Elisabeth the truth: the dead are not all asleep, not all evil, and never patient. To survive, Elisabeth must learn the hidden rules that bind spirits, graves, and living souls. Rules that demand sacrifice, silence, and obedience.

But oaths are hollow things, and sometimes promises are made to be broken.

As the boundary between the living and the dead begins to rot, Elisabeth must decide whether to uphold the Warden's law... or risk becoming something far worse than what waits beneath the soil.