FROM USA TODAY AND PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR C L STONE:
In a world where ghosts, magic, and dragons exist, one desperate girl faces a dangerous competition to become one of the Favored. Kuni is a country built on honor. But honor is never easy to maintain when the kingdom is filled with corruption, and enemies are threatening war at the borders. When the old emperor dies, a new one rises and he needs people he can trust by his side to help purge the corruption in his realm... moreFROM USA TODAY AND PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR C L STONE:
In a world where ghosts, magic, and dragons exist, one desperate girl faces a dangerous competition to become one of the Favored. Kuni is a country built on honor. But honor is never easy to maintain when the kingdom is filled with corruption, and enemies are threatening war at the borders. When the old emperor dies, a new one rises and he needs people he can trust by his side to help purge the corruption in his realm. Orphaned Mizuki has only ever known farming, but working the land is difficult, lonely work and it's getting harder every year to do it alone. She's facing another long winter and near starvation, until a royal decree arrives. She is to leave her home and make a journey to the capital. The new emperor demands the best citizens of Kuni to join his court, and she must register and be tested to find if her place is among them. Mizuki is doubtful. Who would want a poor farming girl in a royal court? It's not until a woman who claims to have been employed by the last empress finds her, and promises she can turn Mizuki from a sow into royalty. But competition at court is deadly, and after only a couple of days in the city, Mizuki realizes she needs the old woman, not just to learn the ways of the royals, but for her survival. She'll need people she can trust and will have to keep them close as she struggles to stay in the competition and alive.
Join Mizuki, Sota, Ryuu, and Shima as they face incredible odds to become one of the Favored in this epic, Asian-based fantasy. less
