The Dragon's Shadow : Book One, Dark fantasy, 820,672 words

The dragons remember. The wild remembers. But Iria has forgotten its queen.
Princess Holly Alexandria was six years old when fire consumed her world. Her parents are dead and their dragons slain. The ancient pact forged in blood between her ancestors and the great dragons shattered in a single night of betrayal.

The man who pulled her from the flames raised her in shadow. At Morteria, she learned the way of blade and poison, of silence and subterfuge. For eleven years, her guardian shaped her into something deadly, promised her a throne, and taught her that mercy was weakness. She believed him.

She shouldn't have.

Now Holly knows the truth: Saren Darklynn murdered her family. Destroyed her crown and kingdom and spent a decade molding her into the perfect weapon—a queen who would rule in name while he held the blade at her throat.

But dragons are not the only creatures with fire in their veins.

The realm of Iria is dying. False queens and kings carve up her kingdom like a carcass, and ancient beasts, untethered from the pact, rain fire and blood upon the innocent and wicked alike. The land itself fractures under the weight of chaos. And somewhere in the shadows, a lost heir with bloodstained hands and a dragon at her side must decide: will she reclaim what was taken or let her birthright burn?