Books by Sarah Ash

The kingdom of Francia has purged its magi. But when a young Guerrier rescues an orphaned street waif, little does he know that she is the daughter of a magus who met his end on their pyres—or that she is guarded by an aethyric spirit—and driven by the name of the traitor who condemned her father to flames. With the gift of song infused within her, the child's voice will bring her before the most powerful heads of state. And she will craft herself into a weapon... aimed at the heart of the man she despises.

From the alchymist's apprentice whose discovery leads him into a dark partnership, to a girl who will become the toast of three nations, a new magic will grant powers and ignite dangers beyond all reckoning.

A timeless tale of adventure, battle, and beauty, this dazzling story spans the realm of the human and the immortal, the schemes of the power hungry, the dreams of lovers and the resurrection of the fallen in one magnificent, epic fantasy.

Gavril Nagarian is believed dead - perished in the heat of battle. But the Lord Drakhaon of Azhkendir lives on. Now he is entrusted with a sacred mission: to rescue the aged Magus, who has been kidnapped and in whose possession are the five priceless rubies that compose the fabled Tears of Artamon. Ancient law decrees that whoever possesses the coveted stones has the power to impose his rule over the five princedoms in the Empire of New Rossiya.

But the task exacts a cost. The Drakhaoul that destroyed his forebears has penetrated Gavril's psyche and is gaining power over his soul. With the dark forces inside him seeking immortality, Gavril must feed on the blood of innocents - or die.

Toppled by the loss of the Tears of Artamon, Emperor Eugene of Tielen is tormented by his own daemon. Now he must defend his lands against King Enguerrand of Francia, who claims ownership of the Tears. But both men share a common goal: to destroy Gavril Nagarian and the Drakhaoul that lives within him once and for all.

Ingenious and unforgettable, Children of the Serpent Gate delivers a thrilling conclusion to the epic trials of a man of honor in a world run amok - a calamity that can be laid to rest only by an Emperor's Tears.

Gavril Nagarian has finally cast out the dragon-daemon. The Drakhaoul is gone - and with it all Gavril's fearsome powers. But now rid of the daemon's unnatural lusts and desires, he understands how he has betrayed his birthright and his people - he has put the ice-bound kingdom of Azhkendir at risk and lost.

Emerging from his battle with the Lord Drakhaon scarred but victorious, Eugene of Tielen exacts a terrible revenge upon the vanquished. For crimes against the Rossiyan Empire, renegade warlord Gavril Nagarian is condemned to spend the rest of his days in an asylum for the insane - for the absence of the Drakhaoul is indeed slowly driving him mad. But Eugene is motivated by something altogether more sinister. He longs to possess the Drakhaoul - whatever the cost to his kingdom and his humanity.

With Gavril imprisoned in Ironsea Tower, it is left to three women to keep his memory alive. His mother - having returned to her homeland - sows the seeds of rebellion, while a young scullery maid whose heart is broken by Gavril's incarceration sends her spirit out to quest the Ways Beyond. And even the Emperor's new wife is haunted by the memory of the handsome young painter who once captured her soul.

As the five realms of a shattered empire are reunited and the last of Artamon's ruby tears adorns Eugene's crown, peace comes to New Rossiya. But peace can be as fragile as a rebel's whisper. Or a captive's desire to be free.

All Gavril Andar has ever known of life is the sunny clime of his southern home, his beautiful mother, and his love of painting. Until his peace is shattered - and his destiny decreed - by the arrival of a group of fierce clan warriors from the north. The father he has never known is dead. The man who ruled the wintry kingdom of Ahkendir, a man in whose veins ran the burning blood of the Drakhoul, has been murdered by his enemies.

Blood. The liquid that will seal Gavril's fate. For becoming Drakhaon means not only ascending to the throne of Azhkendir, but also changing - changing, in subtle ways at first, into a being of erxtraordinary power and might. Becoming a dragon-warrior. One that must be replenished with the blood of innocents in order to survive.

Kidnapped by the warriors, Gavril is incarcerated in Kastel Drakhaon, with no means of escape from the isolated, ice-bound kingdom. Expected to avenge his father's death, and carefully watched by neighbouring rulers waiting for their chance to move against him, the untested Gavril must fight to retain his human heart and soul in the face of impending war - and the dark instincts that threaten to overpower him...

Rahab finds the bloodless corpse of a child on his ghetto doorstep, the victim of a ritual murder. The Tsyonim, barely tolerated at the best of times, are now the subject of suspicion and hatred in Arcassanne. And the captain of the city guard is determined to ensure that it is a ghetto dweller who is found responsible for the murder.

As his people prepare to flee once more from persecution, Rahab is determined to find th real killer - to prove his own innocence, and to atone for letting go of hsi brother's hand as they fled their birthplace in the last pogrom. Salvation lies unexpectedly close at hand, but is more terrifying, and more spectacular, than Rehab could ever have imagined.

'The gift is not a perfect gift. It carryes the curse of madness with it... the Songspinners live a short intense life, gladdening all with their unique talents before their genius is brutally extinguished...'

Orial is tormented by strange dreams, by sounds others do not hear. She escapes to her mother's tomb, losing herself in singing to Iridial's memory. What she does not know is that her hidden talent may be her undoing.

When Orial becomes the scribe to a composer whose injured hands cannot write, she takes the first steps on the road to madness and war. For in Orial's world music is a tool for rebellion and dissent and the notes she transcribes are the battle hymn of a people.

Wondrous Myh-Dhiel, home to the dynasty of the House of Memizhon, a place of gothic-Byzantine riches and opulence - but now corrupt and subject to a king and queen, the Arkhan and his Arkhys, slowly going mad inside their labyrinthine palace.

But in this stagnant land nothing can shake the powers that be - until the arrival of two young slaves, twins Lai and Laili. Lai, the man of peace, must become a warrior, or die in the Arena; chaste Laili suffers as the Arkhan's new concubine.

Forced into submission and betrayal of principle, they nevertheless survive. And, once enmeshed in the court and its machinery of power, they rise to new prominence.

But Myn-Shiel must change... And as the power-playing of the court reaches fever pitch, a god-driven plague - complex, disguising itself as an irresistible drug - descends. Now Lai and Laili must realise their true fate - destroyers and redeemers both.

For these are the last days.

And this is the fall of the house of Memizhon.