{"product_id":"seed-of-the-black-oak","title":"Seed of the Black Oak by Christian Chiakulas","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eEpi has spent years hiding the truth of who she is.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eNow an assassin for the powerful Solaran Empire, she keeps her barbarian heritage buried along with the memories of the girl she once loved—and the homeland she believed she could never return to.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eUntil the day a mysterious package arrives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eInside is a dagger Epi knows all too well. It once belonged to Alywael—the princess of her tribe, her childhood best friend, and the love she lost the night a dark sorcerer’s ritual turned their world to ashes. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eBut the dagger should not exist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eWhich means Aly might still be alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eDriven by hope and vengeance alike, Epi returns to Arraldyn for the first time in years. What she finds is a land transformed by terror. The Confederation of the Black Oak rules with blood and sorcery, led by the cruel wroedd Cwuldur, whose magic is fueled by human sacrifice. Villages whisper in fear. Old alliances have shattered. And resistance is beginning to stir in the shadows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eWhen Epi joins the rebels, she discovers that the princess she once loved has been kept hidden for years inside the tribe’s hill-fort, surrounded by secrets and guarded by forces far darker than she imagined. Even more shocking is that Epi’s own brother now serves the enemy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eDisguised as a foreign merchant’s bodyguard, Epi infiltrates the stronghold in search of Aly. But the truth waiting inside the hill-fort is more complicated—and more dangerous—than she ever feared. Alliances have shifted, loyalties are uncertain, and the woman she risked everything to save is bound by chains Epi cannot easily break.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eAs the Black Oak tightens its grip and a brutal sorcerer’s power grows stronger, the resistance prepares for a desperate uprising. Old loves will be tested, family bonds torn apart, and the cost of freedom may demand the ultimate sacrifice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eBecause in a land ruled by blood magic and fear, only one force may prove stronger than death itself:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eLove.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eAnd Epi is willing to burn the world to save the woman she loves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alex Parker Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49061468340532,"sku":null,"price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0820\/3311\/5444\/files\/V2SeedOfTheBlackOakBookCover_8.29.2025.jpg?v=1773334479","url":"https:\/\/alexparkerpublishing.com\/products\/seed-of-the-black-oak","provider":"Alex Parker Publishing","version":"1.0","type":"link"}