The Ember-Bound

The Sacred Flame had never chosen an Ashfolk child in three generations. Then it chose Sorrel Kade -- and made her the most hated person in the room.The Ember-Bound follows Sorrel as she enters Ashguard Academy, the elite training ground for magic-wielding Emberkin, carrying a gift she never expected and a family who will keep aging while she does not. Only a Warden's rank can change that -- and every core-house cadet at Ashguard would rather see her fail than share their fire with someone who wasn't born to it. Especially Rowan Thorne, whose mother died in an Ashfolk uprising, and who has every reason to hate the girl whose flame won't stop answering his.As trials force them together again and again, Sorrel and Rowan discover their fire recognizes something in each other that eleven years of grief and two hundred years of prejudice never could.What's inside:- A slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance between a scorned newcomer and a grieving core-house heir- An original magic system with real stakes: power that costs a family its shared mortality- A dark academy setting built on inherited prejudice and earned trust- A joint-magic bond that neither rival can fully explain away- A forbidden midnight petition that risks everything for familyPerfect for readers who love academy romantasy, enemies-to-lovers slow burns, and magic systems where power always has a price.