They didn't run. They didn't bow. And now, they don't wait.
The arena is quiet. The emperor is watching. And two voices—once meant to vanish—have stepped into the light.
Cassia was raised to be ornamental. Ronan was trained to be obedient. But together, they've become something Rome never expected: a memory that refuses to die.
In the aftermath of a single act of defiance, the city begins to tremble. Words once whispered spread like fire. Symbols appear on walls. And in the streets and schoolhouses and kitchens of the empire, people begin to listen.
But rebellion carries cost. With every step forward, Cassia and Ronan risk not just their lives, but the fragile hope they've sparked in others. And when the empire responds—not with swords, but with silence—they'll face the question no one wants to answer: Is survival enough? Or must something be lost to make room for what's next?
The Empire We Burn is the searing final volume of The Laurel and the Blade—a quiet revolution of love, memory, and the kind of resistance that carves itself into stone.