The Steward of Ardan by V. Veritas

The Radiance Reborn Saga Book 1Every soul carries a flame. Some are being stolen. In the land of Selira, every person carries an inner hearth of warmth and life, and those whose hearths go cold are called Hollows. They are feared, shunned, and driven into the hills, and people whisper that the cold spreads by touch. For a thousand years, the Sovereign Flame empire has kept order with its registries, its braziers, and its checkpoints, promising to find the sickness early and keep everyone else safe.Then Prince Caelen of Ardan kneels beside a dying girl, and her flame returns. It should have been a miracle. Instead, it puts a target on his back. Imperial soldiers gather at Ardan's border, and beneath his father's palace, sealed roads older than any kingdom begin to stir. With a sharp-tongued scholar, a loyal friend, and a guide who knows far more than he admits, Caelen rides north in search of answers, into the cold places of Selira where the Hollows have been sent to disappear.What he finds there overturns everything he was taught. The Hollows are not the danger. The sickness his people fear is really a harvest, and the empire that promises to protect them is the one stealing their ...