Books in the Kalima Chronicles series

Even steel can be broken.Mamlakah is once again on the brink of war, this time over who sits on the throne. Alere, Jarran, and Mina race toward Madina to claim Jarran's inheritance as Jun First. And with a Weishi House kill-contract on her head, Alere must unlock new yanstone powers - which lead her further down a destructive path Mina cannot condone.But Nasra Connor and Jun Fourth Hassan Wen-Gates reach Madina first, and they pave the city's streets with blood to secure the throne. Xintou House's students and Bonded Xintou are murdered. Mistress Li, the two Jun Seconds, and Jarran's daughters are imprisoned and slated for execution.Even if Alere can reach Madina in time to prevent the executions, her fighting skills are no use against Nasra and Rohne - the two most powerful Xintou in existence. Her only chance is if she and a reluctant Mina can master the yanstones. But Mina is unwilling to use the yanstones' brutal powers against her old friends.So Alere will gamble her mind, her life, and the sanity of everyone she loves on one, dubious, chance of victory. If she can't prevail, Kalima will be subjugated beneath the steel will of the strongest xintou in history.All chance of freedom… lost. "The Kalima Chronicles will delight lovers of epic fantasy" - Juliet Marillier, author of Blackthorn and Grim series.

Alere Connor may have just started the first war in Kalima's 700 year history. As a failed xintou-telepath but skilled swordswoman, Alere wants only to be freed from duty to Xintou House. Instead, she finds herself the pawn of politics when she is sent to act as mistress to the ruling Jun First, Radan Zah-Hill. Kalima, an Earth-colony world with little iron ore and no fossil fuels, is entrenched in a peaceful feudal society ruled by the Jun families and by Xintou House. But Kalima's peace is precarious at best.On his deathbed, Radan reveals the existence of old lies and a hidden iron deposit that would tip the balance of power. Alere is accused of the Jun First's murder and flees for her life. In doing so, she unwittingly triggers a revolution against the Xintou House and against the Jun.To discover truths and the iron, she must reach and warn the Jun Second, Rafi Koh-Lin, on whose lands the iron ore lies. If she fails, all-out war is inevitable. On the way, Alere will uncover the old and bloody secret of her own existence; the reason for her failure as a xintou-telepath; and unlock and even darker future for herself and her companions.But only if she survives.