Empire of War & Wings

The only thing that 17-year-old Aella ever wanted was to keep raising horses with her sprawling family on the frontier of the Winged Empire. But when the Winged Empire tests for magic, they’re looking for spirit-birds and Aella doesn’t manifest a spirit-bird - she manifests bees. An angry swarm of bees to be precise. Furious at her aberration, the empire snatches her from her home, ransacks her town, and draws her into a world that she hates to her very core. Until a mysterious revolutionary offers her a deal that could change everything. 

Aella has already proven that she’s as relentless and determined as the rest of her family - and even more so now that she has this swarm of magic bees at her disposal. She’s determined to use them for the good of her family and the fledgling revolution. But the measures she had to take to save herself and her friends are catching up to her. Now, the crown prince’s life hangs in the balance, and if he dies, Aella will be the one who will pay the price with her life and the lives of her family.

Aella has used every scrap of magic at her disposal to fight against the Winged Empire and save her family, but now she’s on the run from the person she thought she could trust the most. All Aella wanted to do was fight injustice and use her powerful bee swarm magic to do that. She thought she’d be spared the wrath of the crown prince when she saved his city. 

Can anything save her closest ally? Aella has gathered the resources the revolution needs and performed miracles with her bee magic that no one ever expected were possible. But now her closest ally’s future hangs in the balance, and only her bees can save him. With the entire army of the Empire hunting her down, determined to drag her back to the crown prince, time is running out. If she doesn’t find a way to quickly free her ally - and herself - from the crown prince and the magic bonds he’s put on them, they may never get free at all.

Forced into a marriage and role against her choosing while the revolution she supported is only just taking root, Aella must decide whether she can do the unthinkable - sacrifice her own life and future for the sake of her family and fledgling nation. But even if she can make that choice, accomplishing it might be tougher than she ever imagined as she finds herself outnumbered, surrounded by enemies, her magic depleted and the Forbiddign intent on sifting her.