“What happens after the Chosen One defeats the Dark Lord?”

Chrysoula Tzavelas is our Fall 2018 author partner.

Thousands of years after epic battles have become myth, the magical protectors of the realm have degraded into royal figureheads…You see, everyone that is born with magic is doomed to go mad, and our main protagonist Princess Tiana is no exception. But Her Serene Highness has her work cut out for her: as a plot to remove the royal family thickens, so too does a dangerous magical malaise begin to take hold of the realm.

Read our spoiler-free review of Citadel of the Sky here.

Read the winning flash fiction stories judged by Chrysoula here.

 

Novel Summary:

A Dark Lord is rising. Again. But hey, that’s what the royal family is for, right? Kicking butt in nice dresses: a new epic tradition.

Her (not very) Serene Highness Princess Tiana tries her best not to think about the enemies that regularly invade her country, or how the magic in her bloodline makes her family go mad. Though she’s the descendant of a legendary hero, she prefers bringing the myths of old to life on the theater stage, not on the battlefield.

Then a rash of suspicious deaths strikes the Regents—trusted advisors, friends, and guides to her troubled family—and the Noble’s Council tries to cover it up. Tiana is determined to get to the bottom of the murders and the conspiracy, even if that means making a dangerous pact with a telepathic demon trapped in a magical sword. But he may just be the edge she needs to save the people she loves.

Cursed sword in hand, Tiana and her friends prepare to face the encroaching darkness–and the ultimate truth about her and her family.

Chrysoula’s Bio

Chrysoula Tzavelas went to twelve schools in twelve years while growing up as an Air Force brat, and she never met a library she didn’t like. She now lves near Seattle with her family. In between working on her own stories, she freelances for video game projects and homeschools her eldest child. When she’s avoiding work, she plays mobile RPGs, creates digital art, and watches anime. Her favorite authors include Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, Terry Pratchett, Guy Gavriel Kay and Iain Banks.