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Burn my heart, and make something pretty from the ashes by bella545
Fandoms: The Empyrean - Rebecca Yarros
27 Aug 2025
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Summary
Isabella Riorson, daughter of Fen Riorson, twin sister of Xaden Riorson, watched as her father was burned for fighting for the truth. She spent her entire life being whoever people want her to be. She spends her day as Xaden's shadow and the person who knocks sense into him—complains about Xaden to Bodhi.
This is her story as she leads a rebellion at her brother's side, slaps sense into him when he needs her to, and maybe along the way finds what she thought wasn't possible: Love.OR,
"She was born a Riorson — a name the world wanted erased — and survived by becoming everything they feared. A shadow, a weapon disguised in kindness. Her power wasn’t just strength; it was the terrifying ability to become anyone, to carry the weight of everyone, and to lose herself in the process. They taught her to kill, but never how to grieve. So she learned silence. She learned masks. And in a world that demanded monsters, she wore hers well — until someone asked what she felt the first time she killed. And she said: ‘I didn’t know what to call it.’”