A forbidden alchemy

McEwan, Stacey2025

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Summary

Nina Harrow and Patrick Colson first meet in adolescence, brought in from their disenfranchised mining towns to glittering Belavere City to be tested for magical abilities. Those who pass will train to become Artisans, wielding powerful elemental magic to carry out Belavere's greatest ambitions. Nina wants nothing more than to escape her circumstances and attend the Artisan School, while Patrick only wants to return home to his family of Craftsmen, who use their extraordinary physical strength in the idium mines that keep Belavere running. The two accidentally discover a devastating secret: that Artisans are not born, but chosen. They part ways without telling another soul. In the years that follow, a Craftsman revolution begins, and the two find themselves on opposite sides of a brewing war. Nina, now an elite Artisan with the extremely rare ability to charm earth, soon abdicates the fight entirely, devastated by the loss of her found family. She has long become accustomed to life on the run when she is captured by Patrick's rebellion contingent. It turns out he has far from forgotten her, and he asks for her help in a mission that will change the tides against Belavere City. She reluctantly agrees, struggling to ignore the sparks between them. But when Nina's first love reappears, asking her to betray Patrick and spy on his cause for the Artisans, she must decide whether her loyalties lie with the order that raised her or the one person she knows she can trust.