Sworn to the Shadow Throne (Magebound Courts #2)
Recap of Book #1
The Magebound Courts series takes place on the island of Avanfell, once the heart of a vast empire ruled by the Fae and mage-emperors with an iron fist. At its height, the Avanfellian Empire spanned the western island of Wynth and much of the eastern continent.
Its fallen capital, Caervorn—the southernmost city—is now home to the Mage Assembly.
After the empire’s collapse, the Assembly established itself as the impartial governing body for magic users. In truth, they quietly seek to restore mage hegemony, manipulating kingdoms and bloodlines alike to reclaim their former power.
The first book in the series, Bound to the Broken Crown, follows the collision, and eventual union, of two lives ensnared by the Assembly’s manipulations: Prince Emrys of Darreth and Isca, a lowborn empath raised in the ruins of Caervorn.
Prince Emrys, known as Stormdan (firestorm), is burdened by a nameless curse.
Triggered when he touched an ancient ring as a teen, the curse houses a beast that craves violence and blood and feeds on his pain, anger, and other strong emotions.
To protect his kingdom and his twin brother Nisien from himself, Emrys spent years in self-imposed exile fighting on behalf of the Mage Assembly, unleashing the worst of his curse on distant battlefields.
Isca was a destitute herb-seller in Caervorn, until her powerful empathic abilities catch the attention of Chancellor Maeron of the Mage Assembly.
After a fated encounter with Emrys, she is sent to Darreth under the guise of diplomacy, carrying two secret mandates from the Chancellor: Resolve the succession between the twin princes to stabilize the kingdom, and become pregnant by one of the princes to provide the Assembly with a powerful magical heir.
Upon arriving at Tir Darreth, Isca finds herself caught between Nisien’s polished charm and Emrys’s volatile darkness. Though Emrys frightens her, she is inexplicably drawn to him and soon discovers that her empathic magic can soothe his curse, granting him rare moments of peace.
Everything changes when Prince Owain of Larethia visits Darreth to seek aid against border raids along their shared frontier with the northern kingdom of Gelida, which has long been hostile toward Darreth and, in recent decades, embraced a growing anti-magic, anti-mage movement.
The visit, though, has consequences far beyond border politics.
Owain’s gentility and kindness toward Isca, combined with witnessing Nisien kiss her, drives Emrys into a spiral of jealousy and self-loathing.
His curse pushes him to act out until he can’t restrain it anymore.
He flees the castle, hoping for a battle.
While patrolling the Gelidian border where the raids are fiercest, Emrys annihilates a garrison of men.
Gelida retaliates in kind, burning one of Darreth’s strongholds to the ground. The promise of war quickly follows. Emrys leads Darreth’s forces north to meet the Gelidian army, determined to leave Isca behind—but she refuses, joining the campaign as Darreth’s official diplomat.
During the march, Isca is kidnapped by Gelidian rebels loyal to the anti-magic contingent.
The Gelidian princess Anwen’s forces intercept the rebels and bring Isca safely to Tir Gelida, where Isca learns that Anwen is secretly a powerful mage fighting for her own claim to the throne against her would-be usurper cousin.
Together, Isca and Anwen broker a covert alliance between Gelida and Darreth, hoping to end the war before the Assembly can exploit either kingdom any further.
Not knowing that Isca has been saved by Anwen, Emrys fully unleashes his curse, slaughtering an entire Gelidian battalion and their general to rescue her. When he reaches Tir Gelida, though, he finds Isca safe and a potential new ally in Anwen.
Afterward, Isca confesses that the Assembly has been using her family as leverage, intending to breed a living weapon from Emrys’s bloodline. Though the truth initially breaks him, and the beast inside him, he realizes she’d ultimately defied the Assembly for his sake—for love.
The book concludes with several major shifts: Nisien agrees to ride to Gelida to seek a marriage alliance with Princess Anwen.
Emrys accepts the crown of Darreth and claims his place as king.
Isca becomes queen and is now pregnant with Emrys’s heir.
And together, they send a defiant letter to the Mage Assembly, declaring themselves no longer pawns or weapons to be used.
Book Two, Sworn to the Shadow Throne, opens with a new crisis: the Mage Assembly has begun to move its pieces for a far more dangerous game.