Thorns of Fate by Miranda Howman

The Gilded Empire expects submission—even when it means watching someone you care about die.
Elora chose compassion anyway.
The Empire does not forgive defiance.

Because of that choice…
she will become something worse.
At the Miros Institute, Elora believed she was untouchable—trained as an alchemist, protected by her mentor, spared the cruelty every other student endured.

Until she isn’t.
At the Institute, failure isn’t corrected.
It’s punished.
Stripped of protection, Elora is delivered into the hands of Headmaster Thorn—the architect of her unmaking.

Her intellect is tested.
Her will fractured.
Her empathy turned against her.

She must learn what she was never taught:
Obedience.
But survival demands something else.

To bleed.
To endure.
To refuse the fate carved for her.

Because if she cannot remain who she was…
she will become something far worse than they intended.
This is not a story about rescue.
It’s about erosion.

Of identity.
Of trust.
Of the fragile belief that doing the right thing will save you.