About this book:

War is coming to the kingdom of Virelia, and a map that shouldn’t exist has just fallen into the hands of a princess who refuses to look away. Lady Seraphine Arwen has spent years training for battle while her father dismisses rumors of invasion—now a dying scout’s cryptic words and a glowing, ember-etched map confirm what she’s long feared: the legendary Ember Crown is real, and the enemy is already hunting for it.

To reach the crown first, Seraphine must defy the king and rally an unlikely fellowship of outcasts: a disgraced knight haunted by his last campaign’s failure, a sharp-tongued scholar exiled for daring to study the Emberwood’s magic, and a shadowy rogue whose loyalties are as shifting as the forest’s illusions. Together they flee the capital on a race against the Umbral Legion, plunging into ancient marshes, forgotten ruins, and a cursed wood where reality itself can’t be trusted—and where allies may wear the faces of enemies.

As the crown’s power draws them deeper into danger, Seraphine will have to master not only swordplay and strategy, but also the demands of a magic that hungers for sacrifice. Broken oaths, court conspiracies, and a pull of attraction that could unravel the trust between them test the group from within, even as relentless foes close in from without. Every step forward sharpens the question: will the Ember Crown be Virelia’s salvation—or the spark that burns the kingdom, and their hearts, to ash?