The Winter Sword

In the frozen empire of the Hundred Islands, Lady-Commander Grazina has spent twenty-eight years believing in the order that shaped her: the Empress does not die, winter does not break, and the ice does not lie. When she captures Shorena, the legendary strategist known as the Heron of the Fens, Grazina is ordered to deliver her alive to the Ice Court before the thaw. But the journey north forces the commander to confront the contradictions buried beneath the Empire's celebrated peace. Shorena is not merely a rebel. She is the daughter of an engineer whose warnings about a failing imperial dam were ignored, leading to the deaths of 214 people. Her father's records may contain evidence that could challenge the official history of the Empire itself. As Grazina begins to question the arithmetic behind the Long Peace, she discovers that the Court may have wanted Shorena captured not because she is dangerous with a sword, but because she carries a truth that must never be heard in public. Now, on the eve of the Heron's execution, Grazina must decide whether obedience is still loyalty when the law itself has been built upon a hidden lie.