Calia Koval has always walked the fault line between loyalty and treason. The daughter of executed rebels, she learned to survive by playing the role the Pyrathian War Institute demanded of her- obedient, intelligent, and indispensable. Her compliance spared the lives of other children of the rebellion, but it left her permanently marked: to loyalists, she is still a rebel's daughter; to her peers, she is a betrayer. At nineteen, Calia stands at the threshold of Preference Day, when every citizen must bind themselves to a district of service: Scholar, Healer, Soldier, or Wielder. The choice should be simple- Calia has long dreamed of joining the Scholars, seekers of truth in a nation tarnished by propaganda and lies. But destiny rarely bends to reason. Drawn toward a power she does not understand, Calia faces a decision that could sever her from the life she has carefully constructed. Choosing differently means more than abandoning her plan. It means unearthing secrets long buried beneath the war, her family's legacy, and her very blood. And it may thrust her into a destiny that will force her to decide: remain a survivor, or become something far more dangerous.
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