The Crown of Embers

Description

She does not know what awaits her at the enemy's gate. Elisa is a hero. She led her people to victory over a terrifying, sorcerous army. Her place as the country's ruler should be secure. But it isn't. Her enemies come at her like ghosts in a dream, from both foreign realms and within her own court. And her destiny as the chosen one has not yet been fulfilled. To conquer the power she bears once and for all, Elisa must follow the trail of long-forgotten - and forbidden - clues from the deep, undiscovered catacombs of her own city to the treacherous seas. With her goes a one-eyed spy, a traitor, and the man who - despite everything - she is falling in love with. If she's lucky, she will return from this journey. But there will be a cost.

Rae Carson has published short stories in venues such as WEIRD TALES MAGAZINE and BENEATH CEASELESS SKIES, and is a graduate of the Blue Heaven Novel Writing Workshop. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, novelist C.C. Finlay, two (reasonably) well-behaved teenaged stepsons and a pair of naughty cats.