"For years, Catherine Foundling struggled to scrape together enough money to enroll in the War College of Ater, the capital of the Dread Empire.
Only when she arrives there, it's not as a powerless orphan: she is the Squire, apprentice of the Black Knight, and is immediately dragged into the schemes of powerful lords.
Catherine must get to the bottom of a string of eldritch murders and the greater plot that lurks behind them before they get her killed—all while staying under an assumed name at the War College, lest the blades of assassins find her.
If she fails, it will start a civil war that would ravage the same home she left to save. If she wins, it might be at the cost of becoming the very kind of monster she thought she was fighting.
It will be a long year in the capital, living in the Tower's shadow, and how long Catherine can last might just be decided by the number of lines she's willing to cross to get what she wants."
"The Empire stands triumphant.
For twenty years, the Dread Empress has ruled over the lands that were once the Kingdom of Callow, but behind the scenes of this golden age, threats to the empire are rising.
The nobles of the Wasteland weave their plots behind pleasant smiles while rebellion stirs beyond Peren Woods, for dreams of crowns were buried in shallow graves. The greatest danger of all lies to the west, where the First Prince of Procer restored order at last: her people sundered, she ponders if a crusade might not be the way to secure her reign.
Yet none of this matters, for in the heart of the conquered lands, the most dangerous man alive sat across an orphan girl and offered her a knife.
Her name is Catherine Foundling, and she has a plan."
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