Monday, November 11, 2013

Novel Summary

   Setina Caecinia Aurelia is the heir to the Vetusian Empire, though her family’s influence has waned significantly in recent years. She faces the challenge of fulfilling her role as the unprecedented first female heir in the history of the Empire, while the scheming Senate works directly to destroy her family’s last vestiges of power, if not the family itself. In a world where citizens literally wear a Mark of their allegiance on their skin, the neutral unmarked imperial family stands as an important balance of power against the two warring factions of the Senate. Setina’s father, worn down and desperate, plays the long game of shaping Setina into his perfect ideal of a successor, pinning all his hopes on her ability to restore their family to its rightful place.
     Among this political chaos, the young child Setina glimpses the Emperor receiving a mysterious visitor with an unrecognisable Mark who makes an indelible impression, creating a lifelong obsession to discover who or what he might be. Uncovering his identity takes her on a journey through the Empire's past history, delving into painful secrets about her family and her people that most feel are best left forgotten to the mists of time. As she comes of age, the Fates push her forward at an ever increasing pace towards violent conflict with the Senate and the stranger proves both an important relic of Vetus' past, as well as the key to its future...