What does cruelty forge when it fails to break you? Panithea’s life is made up of secrets and certainties. Secrets: her heritage as a slave, her ability to borrow people's skills and see into their minds, and the fact that her friends' lives are used as collateral for her obedience. Certainties: something is stealing people from their beds and leaving nothing behind but blood, along with mounting evidence that monsters might be real. They are creeping closer, watching from the dark and collecting pieces for spells. Secrets: an emissary from a neighbouring kingdom, Kaelen, has come to offer aid they cannot afford to accept, and is carrying secrets Panithea can feel but not touch. What has brought this beautiful meddler to their door, endangering people she would die to protect? And why does his presence make her want to scream, hit something, to fight… to hope? Certainties: Someone is gathering the dark, the Gods are watching, and one thing is clear: Panithea’s powers are at the centre of it all. Now she will have to decide what her ruin has forged her into: a monster or a weapon strong enough to save those she loves. What The Crone Whispered is book 1 in The Final Threads Series, a dark romantasy tale about dangerous gods, deadly secrets, found family, and a slow-burn romance forged through blood and survival.