The throne of Valemere is not inherited. It is earned – through the Trial of Silver Ash, a blood-bound ritual that tests each claimant’s capacity for sovereign rule. For three centuries, the Trial has chosen the kingdom’s monarchs, and for three centuries, the compact between crown and people has held.

Prince Corin returns from four years of exile to find his father dead, the succession accelerated, and the court fractured between rival claimants. When a young Sanctum adept dies during a routine ward test, Corin begins an investigation that uncovers something far more dangerous than political maneuvering: the Trial itself has been corrupted. Hidden sigil layers, built over generations, have been siphoning the strength of rival bloodlines – silently crippling every house that dared to challenge the throne.

Now Corin must navigate a court of knives and compromises, forge alliances that test his principles, and confront the possibility that the institution he seeks to lead is the very thing that needs to be dismantled. With the Trial days away and enemies on every side, he faces a choice no claimant has faced before: claim power through a broken system, or break the system to claim something better.

The Crown of Silver Ash is the first volume of the Valemere Chronicles – an epic fantasy of institutional intrigue, political corruption, and the cost of choosing transparency over power.

For readers of The Goblin Emperor, The Traitor Baru Cormorant, and A Memory Called Empire.