Évike is the only woman in her pagan village born without magic, making her the prime sacrifice when the Holy Order of Woodsmen arrives to claim a girl for the king. Handed over by her own people, she begins a grueling trek toward the capital alongside Gáspár, a disgraced, zealously religious prince. Their mutual hostility thaws into an uneasy alliance as they face monsters from Hungarian folklore and navigate a political landscape where the king seeks to cement his power by erasing pagan traditions. They eventually unite to prevent Gáspár's brother from seizing the throne and intensifying a brutal ethnic purge.
Readers interested in the intersection of Jewish and pagan mythology, historical fantasy, and national identity will find this narrative useful. It appeals to those who enjoy enemies-to-lovers dynamics set against a backdrop of religious conflict and the tension between fringe cultures and centralized empires. The reader finishes the book with a perspective on how state-mandated religion erases heritage and how individuals find agency when they do not fit the molds cast by their competing families or faiths.
- Published
- 2021
- Language
- EN
