The Bloodless Crown

Synopsis

Caelan Ashmark was seven when the Emperor's guards drowned his mother in the palace fountain for the crime of bearing a bastard son. Fifteen years later, he's survived the brutal war academies, mastered the blood magic his father's regime has outlawed, and learned that legitimacy is just another word for power. When the Emperor dies without a trueborn heir, the Imperial Council fractures into warring factions, each seeking a puppet to crown. But Caelan doesn't want to be anyone's puppet. He wants the throne. He wants revenge. And he's willing to burn the empire to ash to get both. The only problem? His half-sister—the one person who ever showed him kindness—stands in his way. Can you claim a crown without becoming the monster who denied it to you?