[Completed] The Royal Guard of the Empire has faithfully served Byzantia for nearly three centuries now. Hand picked from foreign lands, these guardsmen hold no political ties, carry no agendas, and bare no creeds except to those who sit upon the Onyx Throne. They are vanguards, protectors, loyalists. They are Vangen. Change has come to the Empire. An Empress sits upon the throne now, destroying any who would rebel against her with both fire and iron. To the east, her loyal Vangen work to quash the newest rebellion, until a letter arrives one day, marked with the Empresses seal. The contents within bare only dread and disturbance for the Guardsmen. The Black Ministry, the former Emperor's cabal of Sorcerers, have turned against the Empress. The Vangen's return is bittersweet. The city they once called home is now a battlefield, every street a choke-point. Every home a possible nesting ground for rebels. The Royal Guard will have to fight tooth and nail to put down the Ministry and protect the Empress, but the deeper they go, the harder the lines begin to blur. In a world where good and evil does not exist, where then does a man's loyalty lie? (Comments and Feedback are always appreciated)

In the kingdom of Wanglong, slave girls work in the royal palace. Tamie Beanson, Tiegan Brown, and Liz Schettner are close friends with each other. They serve as water-maids in the palace and occasionally do some other work. They get to contemplate the life of seven princes - the sons of the emperor. Tamie has a crush on one of the princes, and wishes to get closer to him - Wang Shao, the most mysterious of the seven. But as she is only a servant, she gets no chance to get closer to the boys. Furthermore, she is a woman, and women servants are regarded as even lower than men - the men servants sometimes get to become the princes' personal attendees, aiding them in hunts and battles. One day, Tamie rescues an injured fox from being captured by the princes, and her friends help her get the fox back on her feet. Sad that she is unable to reach her sweetheart, Tamie goes alone in a forest to lament and dreams if only she were a boy. After she makes this wish, her friend fox from before appears and breathes at her while she's still asleep. Later when she wakes up, she feels she has somehow changed. She crawls up to the river and discovers what the change actually is - she looks into the water, but it reflects a boy... -- The Kindle version of the book is available for $0.99 on the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DYCPXRC -- The paperback version for $8.70 can be found on the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983246131