A new series from internationally bestselling author S.T. Bende. Aura Nilssen has spent most of her sixteen years in hiding. As crown princess of Alfheim, her life depends on avoiding the assassins who killed her parents and want to destroy her realm. When hunters corner Aura on Midgard (Earth), she’s immediately evacuated and enrolled at Alfheim Academy—a training ground where telepathic teenagers, daily combat lessons, and communication from beyond is the norm. She attends classes that enhance her energetic abilities, labs that fine tune her mental acuity, and workouts with a supernaturally good looking—and suspiciously evasive—training partner. But it’s what she learns outside the classroom that proves most difficult: as Queen of Alfheim, Aura’s grandmother played a heartbreaking role in the death of Aura’s parents . . . and her iron fisted monarchy is pushing the realm to the brink of extinction. If Aura doesn’t take her grandmother’s crown, the home she’s only just begun to love may be lost forever. When an unprecedented attack threatens the very heart of Alfheim, Aura has to decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to protect her new home. Her choice may mean the difference between survival and annihilation—not only for Aura, but for the world she’s always been destined to rule.

Ruling a realm was never going to be easy. After stepping into her royal role, sixteen-year-old Aura Nilssen quickly discovers the dark side of ruling the light realm. Although she’s determined to steer Alfheim off its course of self-destruction, an unyielding tyrant remains equally resolved to stop her. When Aura uncovers the depth of Alfheim’s corruption, she sets out to recover the allies she needs to protect her home. But when she meets a girl whose background mirrors her own, Aura learns she has powers she never knew existed. She’ll need Viggo’s help to master her abilities . . . but is their new relationship strong enough to survive the reality of who she is? In the face of dark magic, powerful enemies, and the unlikeliest of allies, Aura discovers the true nature of her own duality. It turns out that she’s more than just the crown princess of Alfheim. She’s a dark faerie. And she’s just met her match.

Aura Nilssen’s life hasn’t gone at all according to plan. She’s the unwitting heir to a tainted throne, the recipient of not one but two unwanted legacies, and she’s on the hit list of every dark realm in the cosmos. But with weeks to go before her graduation from Alfheim Academy and official coronation as Queen, the reluctant royal thinks she can finally take a breath. She should have known better. When her allies’ borders are breached, Aura knows it’s only a matter of time before Alfheim is attacked. And when dark powers move against her home, Aura and her friends set out to determine exactly who might be strong enough to overpower the light realms. With more than just Alfheim’s future on the line, Aura must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the home she’s grown to love . . . and the warrior who’s claimed her heart.