Bright Burns the Flame

Lory is nineteen and has kept herself alive in the alleys of Dunai with knives, quick thinking and stubbornness. After she is caught and conscripted, she is sent to Ashthorn Ward, the kingdom's harshest military academy, where recruits are shaped into weapons. Rivals there are lethal, a failed trial means death, and obeying orders wears away who she is.

The Ward discovers something dangerous in her blood and gives her a bargain with no good side. She can survive its trials and serve the crown as a weapon trained for war, or fail and never walk out of Ashthorn.

Captain Khayrivven Falcrest oversees her training. He is cold, ruthless and out of reach, yet he seems to be the only person there who sees Lory rather than the weapon the academy wants to make of her.

War is building beyond the border, and rebellion is stirring in the shadows. Lory has to get through Ashthorn's deadly contests while hiding a gift that is forbidden.

This is the first book in a dark fantasy series set in the shared world of Alcunaire. The romance between Lory and Khayrivven is an enemies-to-lovers slow burn, and the question that drives it is whether Lory can stay herself until the academy or the war takes her.