Freedom. Magic. Vengeance.
Vilas is a man consumed by anger. Kept prisoner in the city that slaughtered his people, he dreams of the day his magic is unsealed so he can burn everything to ash. When the city’s queen asks for his help hunting down rebel cultists, he agrees in exchange for his freedom, his magic, and a night in her bed.
Given access to only a fraction of his magic and forced to work alongside a jailor who can seal it entirely, a quick escape is impossible. Vilas knows his freedom hinges on his wits—and his self control. But every day he’s reminded of the horrors done to his people, testing the limits of his restraint. Can Vilas outwit the queen and have his revenge on the city, or will his all-consuming rage be his undoing?
Knee-Deep in Cinders is a thrilling, standalone dark fantasy novel. If you love morally grey characters, underdogs, and quests for vengeance, lose yourself in Knee-Deep in Cinders!
Freedom. Magic. Vengeance.
Vilas is a man consumed by anger. Kept prisoner in the city that slaughtered his people, he dreams of the day his magic is unsealed so he can burn everything to ash. When the city’s queen asks for his help hunting down rebel cultists, he agrees in exchange for his freedom, his magic, and a night in her bed.
Given access to only a fraction of his magic and forced to work alongside a jailor who can seal it entirely, a quick escape is impossible. Vilas knows his freedom hinges on his wits—and his self control. But every day he’s reminded of the horrors done to his people, testing the limits of his restraint. Can Vilas outwit the queen and have his revenge on the city, or will his all-consuming rage be his undoing?
Knee-Deep in Cinders is a thrilling, standalone dark fantasy novel. If you love morally grey characters, underdogs, and quests for vengeance, lose yourself in Knee-Deep in Cinders!
Vilas tossed his book onto a polished table at the sound of footfalls beyond his gilded cage – odd, since feeding time was not for at least an hour. Another Radiant come to prod at me?
He rose with a frown, starting for the chamber door. On his way, he ducked between the wilder of his hanging plants to pause within a golden glow. Cast by the admittedly generous skylight above, it still didn’t change the fact that he was a prisoner. A sweet scent lingered as he glared at the entryway and its door.
At the pile of splinters and ash it could have been.
Should have been.
After all, it was just a pathetically normal door. Oak, with a single steel bolt. One blow ought to have shattered the thing, sent smouldering wreckage into the corridor beyond. Yet he had not managed even a single scratch in years.
He tapped two fingers upon the silver collar at his neck as he lifted his voice. “I am not interested in whatever you have to say, whoever you are.”
Fracture-thin lines of yellow gleamed within the wood-grain as the magic seal lifted. The door swung open to reveal a pair of Radiants in their white vests and cloaks, hands dripping with silver rings.
Neither spoke, merely watched him.
“Yes?” At least their clothing bore no tint of azure. Never a good start to the visit. Vilas folded his arms. “I am still sealed away, as you are aware. Have you really come to interrupt my reading by simply standing in silence?”
Still no response.
Usually, unexpected visits came with Radiant Healers and their sticky minds... Or at least, the same old questions about the war and his own abilities. Sometimes, those questions were followed by petty lords and ladies desperate to catch a glimpse of ‘Vilas, the Beast of Khiya’.
And each time, the collar disappointed them.
Only good thing about it.
But today, his visitor was no idle nobleman trying to impress a lover, or a gaggle of youths fulfilling a dare.
No.
Today was suddenly a little brighter.
Queen Ima herself strode into his prison, preceded by two more Radiants, each man bearing tattoos of torches on their cheeks, a symbol of additional power, something common among the Luminaries themselves. Excessive.
She didn’t need either pair of guards.
The Onathian Queen wore her dark hair shorter than other ladies of the court, painted shadows shaped as pears around her eyes – a trend which had, apparently, caught on in the rest of the palace and city itself.
Quite a change from the Onath of old.
Even her eyelids had been shaded in a soft red.
And when she smiled at him, it was the smile that quickened his pulse, that tormented his dreams.
But he did not welcome her.
She approached, near enough to touch. Perfume of vanilla and orange blossom almost drew him closer still, but he did not lean in. Her crimson gown hugged her hips and breasts, the lace at its edges patterned as flowers, though in contrast, the black gloves on her bare arms were not made to flatter... but to protect.
Deadly, indeed.
Something that only made her all the more alluring. Just how much would it hurt if her hands touched me? Despite his reading, even after years of research, the source of her strange power was a mystery… useful though it could prove to be.
“Vilas.” She glanced around his chambers; chair, table, bed half-visible in the adjoining room. “You still seem comfortable enough, despite claims in your recent... correspondence.”
Highly unlikely that any of his churlish letters about minor inconveniences and otherwise had prompted her visit. “Your Majesty.”
Queen Ima sat on his chair and sifted through the books he had collected. Just what was her game? She was not interested in his reading material. After all, her puppets approved – or rejected – everything he requested. Ima knew exactly what he was reading. She wanted something.
“I’m studying the Western Rebellion,” he said. Among other things in that language. “I don’t believe I have time to read to you.”
She opened one of the books and closed it after a moment. “I can read the Western language, as you are aware, handsome.”
“Yet I cannot fathom this visit, Your Majesty.”
She crossed her legs and leant back, hints of her calf visible, drawing his eye though he ought not to have let himself be distracted. “Have you heard of the Cherished Sons?”
“If you mean that insipid cult from the Wastelands, then a little. Why?”
“I do mean them, yes.”
“Frankly, they do not seem worth your attention.”
“Yet, I would hear more of your opinion.”
He shrugged. “I’m surprised they’ve persisted so long. I heard them speaking once, Your Majesty. If he had opened his mouth and mulch poured forth, it would have been more coherent. What possible concern could they be for the Queen of Onath?”
“The Cherished Sons have changed, and I believe, are not to be underestimated.”
“Oh?”
She leant forward and her perfume became more distinct – definitely vanilla and orange blossoms – but her eyes were more compelling, dark and glittering with determination. “No longer are they so few. Their numbers have grown, and lately, swiftly. They are drawing the young and bitter from outlying villages, and even the city itself now. We intercepted two weapon-shipments in the spring alone. They have funds and they are preparing.”
“For what?” It was a noteworthy change from the cult’s past activities of lonely sermons and graffiti in the city, or rituals in the Wastelands but certainly nothing that couldn’t be countered quite easily by the Radiants. Or Gosdan and the army. After all, Onath boasted one of the largest forces in all the nations. “The return of their Twin Prophets, was it?”
She replaced his book with a sigh. “I’ve no doubt that’s exactly what is being sold to the vulnerable and the foolish. But whoever is behind this development has a very real target – Otakom Dam.”
“That would be more troubling,” he replied, but after a moment, spread his hands. “Nevertheless, it must be far worse than what you’ve mentioned so far, if you’ve been given permission to seek out one such as I.”
Ima raised an eyebrow, though she still smiled. “Permission? Don’t bother trying to insult me, Vilas. Just listen. I need the Beast of Khiya.”
“Why? And what are you offering? Freedom?” He gestured to the collar, and it was impossible to keep a sudden anger from his voice. “Because I haven’t given up on my oath. I will destroy this city if you free me. It is the very least I can do.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Even the innocents?”
He slammed a fist onto the table. “Don’t even think about lecturing me, Your Majesty.”
A chill shot through his collar as it constricted. Air vanished. Edges dug deep into his skin and Vilas collapsed to the carpet, clawing at his throat.
The room grew dim.
“Enough.” The queen’s voice rang out.
Vilas sucked in air from where he lay upon the carpet. Slowly, his vision cleared as the collar loosened, growing warmer as it did.
Queen Ima knelt on one knee beside his head – pinning his hair. Vilas heard a gasp from one of the Radiants but she waved off the man’s protest. “This isn’t the time for propriety, Hosun.”
“But... Your Majesty, the Royal Person need never stoop, even for so much as a gold stalk, let alone this murderous beast. We do not need him. We should send another infiltrator instead.” His eyes were wide. “You must let –”
“I must?” Her voice no longer held any trace of patience.
The Radiant placed both hands behind his back and receded. “Forgive me.”
Ima did not respond. Instead, she pointed a gloved finger at Vilas. “You can paint me with my grandfather’s mistakes from decades long gone all you wish, but I will have an answer. Once more, I need the Beast of Khiya and you want freedom. Help me wipe out the Cherished Sons.”
The black velvet of the glove was close. All she had to do was remove it and brush against him and the pain... He sighed up at the queen. “And again, I ask. Why me?”
“For all the reasons I have given.”
He frowned. “And?”
“And because we found traces of Brutes. Or at least, a Brute.” She lifted her knee. “And so it must be you, Vilas.”
He met her unflinching gaze.
Brutes. Called giant, ogre or sometimes simply monsters. Not a single name was inaccurate precisely, but the Wahkyog were more intelligent, more human than such descriptions suggested. Fled, vanished, vanquished, extinct... supposedly. None knew the truth, but it had been many years since they were last seen.
Even by my standards.
The Brutes were no friend of his own ancestors either, but why had they returned now? To Onath? Assuming any of the queen’s claims were true. Above all, why would the Wahkyog work with a bottom-feeding cult? It is not their way either.
Whatever the truth, it was an enormous request. “I might be able to stop them – without my bonds, of course.”
“Name your price.”
They slaughtered his people. They sealed his magic. Vilas, imprisoned in Queen Irma’s dungeon, is haunted by the massacre of his people and the sealing of his magic. With dreams of fiery retribution, his chance for freedom arrives when the Queen offers him a deal: his freedom, his magic, and a night in her bed in exchange for hunting a rebel cult threatening her kingdom. Author Ashley Capes crafts a compelling tale of vengeance, loss, and the struggle for identity.
Known as the Beast of Khiya, Vilas embodies an inextinguishable fury, fueled by the destruction of his homeland. As his investigation into the rebel threat draws him to the decay and ruin he once called home, the reader gains a sense of rage and grief as he fights to hold himself together. It is impressive the way that Author Ashley Capes captures the internal battle between Vilas’s righteous fury toward his jailor while coping with his raw, inconsolable grief for a kingdom that can never be again. As he unravels the mystery behind the cultist rebel group, the reader peels back the layers of the beast of Khiya.
The worldbuilding in this novel is another standout element. When Vilas and his traveling companions reach his hometown, the setting is steeped in a haunting atmosphere. The innovative bridge over a toxic lake sparks curiosity about the dangers lurking in this desolate landscape. The eerie creatures that populate the story add a thrilling edge, enhancing the tension as Vilas seeks to uncover the truth behind the rebels.
Overall, Knee-Deep in Cinders is a captivating read, offering a fresh fantasy experience that stands apart from longer series. It’s a powerful exploration of vengeance and the quest for justice, making it a must-read for fans of the genre. Highly recommended for those seeking a rich, immersive story filled with emotional depth and thrilling intrigue.