Rise of the Dawnbringer

Princess Mara has never left Delinval. She is the niece and heir of King Grathiel, and she has grown up inside its white walls, schooled in the history of her kingdom and dreading the marriage her uncle has arranged for her.

On the eve of her twenty-first birthday, Dreads break into the castle and take her from her bed. These immortal users of dark magick were defeated by Grathiel twenty years earlier, and their return ends the sheltered life Mara knew.

Outside the walls she finds a dying land. Corruptive magic has ravaged Zenafrost, horrifying creatures stalk it, and its kings are twisted by diabolical power. A ritual that involves Mara herself may be the only thing that can save the land.

Secrets about her own past threaten to destroy her life before that can happen. This is a fantasy with a dark, perilous setting, following a sheltered heroine thrown into a world far harsher than the one she was taught about. It is the first book in the Bornbane series.