Seed of the Black Oak by Christian Chiakulas

Epi has spent years hiding the truth of who she is. Now an assassin for the powerful Solaran Empire, she keeps her barbarian heritage buried along with the memories of the girl she once loved—and the homeland she believed she could never return to. Until the day a mysterious package arrives. Inside is a dagger Epi knows all too well. It once belonged to Alywael—the princess of her tribe, her childhood best friend, and the love she lost the night a dark sorcerer’s ritual turned their world to ashes.  But the dagger should not exist. Which means Aly might still be alive. Driven by hope and vengeance alike, Epi returns to Arraldyn for the first time in years. What she finds is a land transformed by terror. The Confederation of the Black Oak rules with blood and sorcery, led by the cruel wroedd Cwuldur, whose magic is fueled by human sacrifice. Villages whisper in fear. Old alliances have shattered. And resistance is beginning to stir in the shadows. When Epi joins the rebels, she discovers that the princess she once loved has been kept hidden for years inside the tribe’s hill-fort, surrounded by secrets and guarded by forces far darker than she imagined. Even more shocking is that Epi’s own brother now serves the enemy. Disguised as a foreign merchant’s bodyguard, Epi infiltrates the stronghold in search of Aly. But the truth waiting inside the hill-fort is more complicated—and more dangerous—than she ever feared. Alliances have shifted, loyalties are uncertain, and the woman she risked everything to save is bound by chains Epi cannot easily break. As the Black Oak tightens its grip and a brutal sorcerer’s power grows stronger, the resistance prepares for a desperate uprising. Old loves will be tested, family bonds torn apart, and the cost of freedom may demand the ultimate sacrifice. Because in a land ruled by blood magic and fear, only one force may prove stronger than death itself: Love. And Epi is willing to burn the world to save the woman she loves.