The Splitting of the Sky

After the fall of a star, the Court does not heal - it fractures.

Queen Astrid Faran survived the ritual that should have killed her. She returned to her palace stripped of allies, her name whispered with fear, her crown balanced on a knife's edge. The princess who once burned too bright has gone cold, calculating, and dangerously silent.

Leonore knows something is wrong.

As strange marks begin appearing on loyal soldiers and entire districts fall into unnatural calm, Leonore and her allies begin to investigate what truly happened the night Astrid closed the Door. Their search leads them not only into forbidden archives and the rot beneath the palace history - but into the history of Jude Rurik.

As treachery coils tighter and the boundary between Above and Below weakens, loyalty becomes a weapon and love becomes an act of rebellion. The enemy is no longer at the gates.

He is already home.