Ascendant

As one age ends, another begins—and the hand that passes the torch is drenched in blood.

Born the last son of a lowly House, Emre vowed he would one day make the Solaire name rise again, reminiscent of their majesty of old. His brothers vowed the same, and on their journeys found nothing but their own ends. So when he rescues Queen Serilla from a mysterious assassin in her court, he asks for the only thing imaginable: to join the Army of the Golden Sun, an honor of the realm forever reserved for those of the High Houses. Fighting for the glory of the kingdom alongside companions he never thought to make, one day the castle on the high hill he dreamed of so often might become his, and all shall remember House Solaire.

Born herself fourth in line to the crown of Sarcassi, a series of tragedies has led to now, where Serilla sits upon the throne. Following the assassination attempt at court, she cannot escape the ghosts her father, the king, left behind. Least of all in the dagger-wielding shadow that came for her. As she writes to both the Tower of Cognates and the Grand Arbiter for an end to all this madness, she realizes her only chance at saving herself may be feigning trust in the very men who want her dead.