AustLit

'Many years after the brutal Kade takeover of the Third Country, Freya Kuch, a healer, has succeeded when many Pious have failed: she is a perfect Kade citizen. However, this life of willing subjugation is torn apart when she is caught in an attack perpetrated by the anarchic followers of the Dark Gods and is assigned to care for Zarech, their captured leader. Contrary to her expectations, he is not a raving madman but charismatic and quite rational.

'Over the long months of his treatment she unwillingly becomes close to Zarech and she begins to reconsider everything, especially as he reveals the supernatural abilities bestowed upon those with true piety.

'Her obedience to the strict Kade regime is further complicated by her attraction to Ashtyn, a member of the Pious Resistance movement. She tries to ignore her feelings knowing full well the brutal punishments for adultery and dissidence. But soon, she is forced to decide: will she maintain her life of careful safety, or give in to her heart’s dark desires and join the fight against the Kade’s regime?'

Source: Author's blurb.

'“When the time comes, I know you’ll be able to do what’s necessary,” she said before walking away. “Maybe that’s what I’m afraid of,” Freya whispered.

'The Kade rule the Third Country through terror and unrelenting oppression. To the outside world, healer Freyanna Kuch is a member of the subjugated Pious class whose collaboration has seen her richly rewarded by the Kade. But Freya is a member of the Resistance. Her upstanding marriage, work, and conduct is a front as she works to create a better, more equal world.

'However, the world of intrigue and shadows requires everything of a person. If Freya is to succeed in helping the Resistance, she must sort out her complicated feelings for Ashtyn, the man who brought her to the Resistance, and try to navigate the bloodthirsty demands of rebellion despite her obligation as a healer to do no harm.

'As tensions rise across the Third Country, Freya must decide who she must be in order to fight for the world she wants, even if that means turning away from everything she holds dear.'

Source: Author's blurb.

'“You did what you had to do for a greater cause. Sometimes to do the right thing, you have to do the wrong thing.”

'The brutal Kade dictatorship has been overthrown, but the fight is only just beginning in the Third Country as tensions between the Pious and Kade communities remain high. In the fight to bring freedom to her country, Freyanna Kuch had to contravene everything her training as a healer taught her and learn how to kill. But living with the person she became in service of rebellion is no easy task. 

'Yet another threat prowls the streets of Oranis and Freya is uniquely able to protect the city she loves from further bloodshed. However, to do so she must face the very real possibility that there is no going back to who she was – and those she loves.'

Source: LoveOzYA.