One tragic night shattered a kingdom. In the birthing chamber, a darkness older than time reached through the veil, faltering the magic meant to save a queen. Grief consumed King Aldric Ravenmark, but the shadow fed that grief into fear-and fear into law. Magic was outlawed. Its wielders silenced. The realm ruled by dread. Years later, two lives rise against that reign. One, a boy marked at birth with a sigil from a time before the kingdom. The other, a girl driven by vengeance and the desperate search for her imprisoned mother. Their paths move ever closer to the throne and to the darkness that commands it. Set in a world where myth bleeds into memory, The Eldritch Knight begins an epic saga of loss and discovery, vengeance and destiny. It is the first entry in The Ashen Throne Saga, an expansive fantasy universe exploring the cost of power, the burden of legacy, and the light that endures even in ruin.