En is a weapon.
Battle spells are written into her skin, she’s trained to work through pain, and she’s magically compelled with loyalty to the archmage. When she's sent on a mission to retrieve a group of infamous traitors from exile in a land of unpredictable and deadly magic, she's forced to team up with a common soldier to have any chance of success, or survival.

Tamol is a disaster.
En isn’t fooled by her silver tongue and good looks. Tamol is flighty, cowardly and the worst soldier En has ever met. But when disaster strikes and leaves En without a commander, Tamol is the only person En can rely on. That is, until En discovers Tamol is one of the very traitors she seeks.

The empire never forgets.
Years ago, the exiled traitors were just normal students with a vision for a better kingdom. They put their lives on the line fighting for it and lost. So they were exiled to the Far Peninsula to die.

Now, with the empire under renewed threat, the exiles are called back for a fresh round of interrogation and it’s En’s job to bring them in. The perfect soldier would never betray a direct order no matter how much she starts to question her command. Would she?

But the might of an unforgiving empire isn’t the greatest force in all the land. Something monstrous is living in the Far Peninsula that does not discriminate between soldiers, traitors, and kings.

Everina Maxwell's books have been recommended by NPR, BookRiot, Paste Magazine, and in The New York Times "Romantasy: A Starter Pack"!

Expect:
- Opposites attract
- Assassin falls in love with target
- Forbidden love
- Found family gone wrong
- Slowburn
- Dark academia