A Cage Above the Abyss

"They say House Hightower lights the way. But inside the High Tower, there is only a suffocating shroud of ice and blood."At fifteen, Melissa Tyrell was the golden sun of Highgarden-a fierce, untamed girl who tasted absolute freedom while flying through the clouds on a blue dragon. But the Dance of the Dragons cares nothing for childhood dreams. Trapped by a ruthless web of family scandals and political blackmail, Melissa is sold into an arranged marriage to Lord Ormund Hightower. A flawless, aristocratic sociopath who washes his hands of human empathy and smothers the world in the sweet, sickening scent of his lavender pomander.Within the sterile grey walls of Oldtown, Melissa's life becomes a living hell. She is broken, silenced, and stripped of her will. And when a tragic fall from the treacherous stone stairs shatters her last hopes, she finds herself utterly alone, staring into the abyss of her own despair.But Lord Ormund's cold calculation forgot one variable. His sixteen-year-old son, Lyonel.For years, Lyonel was the brooding, silent heir, forced to wear a mask of iron discipline while harboring explosive, burning anger issues. For years, he watched the girl of his childhood dreams from the shadows, unable to protect her from his father's cruelty. Now, with the ash of First Tumbleton settling and the old monster dead, Lyonel claims the seat of Oldtown.He is loud, ruined by the horrors of war, and smells of rain and blood. He is everything Melissa has learned to fear. Yet, behind his terrifying grey-green gaze and blood-stained fists lies a fierce, unyielding oath.In a kingdom collapsing into ash, a ruined Tyrell rose must learn to bloom in the frost. Because while the High Tower was once her cage, its new lord is ready to burn the whole of Westeros to the ground just to keep her safe.A dark, slow-burn House of the Dragon tale of trauma, heavy angst, and a brutal, ironclad path from hatred to devotion.