When the king of Aizasea is assassinated, eighteen-year-old Celvene is wise enough to keep her head down after witnessing the attack. As a circus mage, she has no business in politics - until the next ruler is selected by ritual, and Celvene is the sole soul capable of wielding the king's sword. Declared the destined queen, Celvene expects to rise... but her kingdom has other plans. Instead of honoring the ritual, the brutish general Aleksandr brands her an upstart peasant and forces her into the castle as a servant, hoping she'll disappear quietly. With their mortal enemy continuing to strike the city, the people yearn for a more ruthless leader, and Aleksandr is hellbent on seizing the crown for himself. On top of that, forbidden and deadly magic begins to blossom in Celvene's heart, threatening to unravel all she holds dear. The magic corrupts her mind and drives her to acts she commits against her will, tainting her already struggling reputation. And among the enemy ranks stands her childhood best friend, fighting for the other side of the war. Facing her again is a complication Celvene can't ignore. As tensions rise and the horrors of war unfold, Celvene uncovers twisted secrets that could spell the death of her city. Will she survive long enough to fulfill her destiny as queen, or will the shadows of dark magic and war consume her? BY ROYAL DECREE: ✓ Circus-mage underdog protagonist ✓ Grumpy sapphic love interest with a heart of gold ✓ Corruption magic fueled by famine ✓ Iconic, sassy non-binary mentor ✓ Worldbuilding inspired by the Four Horsemen ✓ Twists and turns galore FEATURED: ♛ @Fantasy's Epic/High Fantasy

CHINESE ARYA STARK meets THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. *A Wattpad Featured story* When everyone wears a mask, who do you trust? In the unforgiving empire of Erden where the Imperials reign supreme, Sarna is a slave. After escaping the brothel where a man burned half her face, she is determined to lead a new life by joining Zichuan Theater as a performer. When an assassination attempt on the crown prince casts suspicion on Zichuan Theater, the fragile foundations of that new life begin to crumble. Incarcerated with a death sentence in line, she is offered a dangerous deal: the crown prince's head in exchange for Zichuan Theater's freedom. To save her theater, Sarna journeys to learn the dark art of Facechanging from a forgotten god, hides herself behind borrowed beauty, and uses her new identity to infiltrate the Jade Palace. But no godly transaction comes without a price. Not only does she find herself trapped not only in a web of court intrigue, but in a battle for control of her body and her life. As time ticks down for her theater, she must decide between her heart and her freedom, or risk losing everything she has ever loved and worked for - including her identity. Highest ranking: #54 in Fantasy (14/2/18) Cover trailer by @Abyss-of-Crazy

[𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗗] ꒰ thriller | dual pov ꒱ Nirvi hires an assassin from the dark web to kill Nivedita. Apeksha, the assassin, asks for two weeks to intercept the victim. Thus begins Nivedita's life's countdown. (cover by @swara_raj )

I was four years old the first time I touched a dying man and he got up again. My mother made me promise never to let anyone see. She was right about that. She was right about most things, and then she died, and the last thing she ever told me was a name I'd never heard. There's a fire in me. It's been there since before I was born, and it isn't mine, and it's killing me---three hundred years late and nineteen days fast. Only the Barons can teach me to control it. Fallen gods. The kind that eat girls like me to make the hunger stop. So I walked into Hell's Gate on my own feet and offered them a trade. The cold one claimed me. Called me 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥. Never my name. The beautiful one wept gold and begged me not to let them love me. The silent one asked me what I wanted, and I didn't have an answer. And one of them was kind to me. Only one. From the first night. That's the one I should have been afraid of.

Special Mage Eijiro Tokuda never wanted to be a mentor. In fact, he didn't even want to be alive. But when a desperate fourteen-year-old interrupts his most recent attempt to skip out on mortality, Eijiro ends up not only alive, but also a mentor. The worst of both worlds. Now stuffed into the role of teacher and father figure for a girl that adores him, Eijiro must help his new apprentice to master her abilities without succumbing to his own inner demons. Which won't be easy to do when the ghosts of his past threaten to steal his apprentice's love for him and his second chance at life. *New chapter drops every Wednesday!*

Skye is dead. How she perished is a mystery. All she knows is that she is trapped in After, a makeshift city of souls surrounded by infinite darkness and terrifying monsters that tear ghosts apart. But while all other ghosts accept the eternity of darkness ahead of them, Skye refuses to spend her afterlife in a world without light. She knows there must be some way to escape the monsters that keep them all imprisoned and return to the realm of the living, and she's going to find it...even if she has to face the prince of monsters, himself. Skye risks her existence and escapes the walled city of After in search of the truth. Venturing into the black reveals untold perils, but that's not all. The Dark...and the dark prince, are hiding a terrible secret... 🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻 WATTYS SHORTLIST | 2021 WATTYS BEST COVER SHORTLIST | 2021 AMBYS FAVORITE - HORROR | 2024 Cover art drawn by me.

Binti Nasra is a working-class sorcerer and occult detective. She's also cynical, foul-mouthed, and is known for doing whatever it takes to get the job done. When a new threat arrives in the city with the intention of taking her magic, she has to dig into her bag of tricks and escape this powerful foe or risk losing her life.

Legends say the Bride of Thorns was chosen to save the Thorn Realm. They say she came in white silk, bound to a king made of roots and blood, and lifted the curse with love. Kaelith has no silk. No love. And no interest in saving anyone. But when the cursed forest that borders her village pulls her across the threshold, Kaelith finds herself tangled in a decaying realm where thorns move like snakes, shadows whisper names, and old stories lie like traps. The realm thinks she's the next "bride." Too bad for the realm-Kaelith didn't come to marry anyone. She came to burn the lies to the ground. No romance. No prophecy. Just one girl, a cursed sigil, and a realm full of secrets that forgot one thing: Kaelith isn't here to be chosen. She's here to choose war.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 - 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬... Cruel fate has unjustly branded Mortin Cornelius Echser many things: magus, monster, mad scientist, mass-murderer... but Lich Hunter is a new one. Forced against his will into a partnership with Craven, the Scarred Empire's most infamous hunter of ... well, pretty much everything with a price its head, Mortin returns to his home to face the demons of his past. Will he find redemption for the horrors he inadvertently released upon his hometown? Or will the child-stealing horrors that lurk below Morgenheim's graveyard claim him and his new mentor? ----------------------- You should enjoy this book if you liked... TV-Shows: The Witcher Books: The First Law Series, Warhammer Fantasy Spiele: Skyrim, Bloodborne, Dark Souls Comic: Berserk ----------------------- OpenNovellaContest 2021 Prompt No 64 - Long & Shortlister ----------------------- Image Credit: Microsoft Bing AI

An entry-level cartographer, Liadan is the least interesting, least important member of the Nautical Guild. Well, that's what she needs everyone to believe. When a warning at sea forces Liadan to flee the Island of Tirisea, she must choose if she returns to safety or trusts a stranger who promises her the impossible: a life where she is free from a duty that was inflicted on her at birth. No matter what, she must not let the mist find her, nor allow the key to fall into malevolent hands. One wrong move, and the world will crumble. Cover by @raizelrose3 ONC 2026 Prompts: 7. One morning, the ocean washes up a message. One you've been waiting your entire life to hear. 62. They say every door has its own key. Except for one, a key said to open them all. 79. A letter arrives addressed to you, written by someone who shouldn't exist. ONC 2026 Round 1 Winner Word Count: 26,177