Ashes & Gold

Book 1 of The Ember Throne Series

A Romantasy Novella by Raul John

She stole bread to keep her sister alive.

The king watched her do it.

Sera Ashvine has spent her entire life surviving a kingdom that treats ember-blooded people like monsters waiting to happen. Hunger, fear, and cruelty are ordinary things in Varek — but when a magistrate’s boot comes down on her wrist in the middle of the market square, a stranger with silver eyes steps out of the crowd and changes everything.

Days later, Sera receives a royal summons to the deadly Ember Trials.

Win, and she becomes the Court Ember — the most powerful fire-wielder in the kingdom.

Lose, and she returns to the life she barely survived.

Or worse.

But the palace is hiding secrets far more dangerous than the Trials themselves.

The king who saved her in the market is not the man the court believes him to be.

The powerful lord overseeing the competition is playing a darker game.

And every glance between Sera and the king feels like the beginning of something forbidden… and catastrophic.

As political betrayal tightens around the throne and deadly conspiracies emerge beneath the glittering halls of the Ivory Keep, Sera must decide who she can trust — the kingdom that fears her, the king who sees her, or the fire inside herself that has begun to burn hotter than ever before.

Because some girls were never meant to kneel.

And some crowns are built from ash.

Ashes & Gold is a dark, emotionally charged romantasy novella filled with:

forbidden romance

enemies-to-lovers tension

magical trials

morally gray royalty

slow-burn chemistry

political intrigue

deadly secrets

powerful heroines

emotional angst

fire magic

fantasy kingdoms

found family

betrayal and longing

Perfect for readers who love: Fourth Wing, A Court of Thorns and Roses, From Blood and Ash, and The Serpent and the Wings of Night.

Enter the Ember Trials.

Trust no crown.

And never fall for the king who could destroy you.