Sign of the Knife

I clutched the knife under my cloak and stared at the flames rising into the night, stunned at what I’d just done.
Oh, dear gods.

One of Roland’s hands held mine. The other gripped a silver blade that glinted in the dusty light. A single candle burned on the ground beside us. It sat in the center of a cross within a circle.
“Do you, Mira, swear on your life to dedicate your every breath to the Order of the Dragon, with an oath to follow Domhnall in every detail, no matter how significant or small his instructions may seem to you?”
My life? That familiar pull in my chest told me to run.
My eyes flicked back to the stone knife at his waist. Years of throwing knives at the barn wall, dreaming of the day I would find a way to fight, all came flooding back. I put my shoulders back and nodded. I trusted Roland. He loved me. I felt his hand in mine and squeezed it tighter. He would never ask me to do anything dangerous.
“You have to swear it, Mira.”
“Yes.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and said it more loudly. “Yes. I swear on my life."

In a land torn by the ruthless power of a tyrant king, Mira dreams of leaving her tiny farm in Brynn and fighting. But when she’s chosen to kill the crown prince, she accidentally kills the wrong person.

Sign of the Knife is a story of rebellion, redemption, and one young woman’s desperate search for her place in the ancient world.