Fantasy

A Crown of Others' Names - To Reclaim Her Throne, an Exiled Princess Must Steal the Tyrant's Name and Risk Losing Her Own.

By Dorian Vale

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Length7h 30m

About this audiobook

In Talren, a name is more than identity. It can open a gate, validate a contract, bind a worker to an obligation, determine who may control a bridge or warehouse, and decide whether a person is recognized by the systems that govern everyday life. Nera Sarn has spent seven years in exile after her father lost the throne. She returns with a dangerous plan: find the tyrant Hadran's first record, steal his name, and use that moment of weakness to reclaim what was taken from her family. To enter the city, however, she must first borrow another woman's name - and discovers immediately that name magic always carries a price. Every transfer can cost a memory, and every borrowed identity brings not only permissions but obligations that may seize the body before the mind has time to resist. Inside Talren, Nera finds a kingdom held together by something far more disturbing than fear. Hadran has transformed a limited system of magical guarantees into a centralized network built from hundreds of retained names. Debts have been repaid, contracts have ended, owners have asked for their names back - yet many remain trapped inside the Crown's machinery. Worse, the cost of maintaining that system does not always fall on the man making the decisions. Memories can be taken from the people whose names he controls. What begins as a struggle for a throne becomes a harder question: if Nera takes Hadran's name, will she destroy his power - or simply become the next person at the center of it? Around her are people who refuse to become pieces in someone else's restoration. Oren, a former royal scribe, has already paid for saying no. Tesa wants her own name and her own choices back. Mara demands promises that do not depend on silver. Bren believes procedures matter because mistakes in living records can destroy lives. Vessa, the master craftswoman responsible for the royal system, will obey authority only as long as she can still tell the truth about what the silver is doing. And with every step Nera takes toward the crown, the price becomes more personal. The magic does not merely threaten her body or her claim. It can take the memories that tell her who she was before the fight began. The closer she comes to victory, the less certain it becomes whether reclaiming the throne is the same thing as setting the city free. A Crown of Others' Names is an adult political fantasy about power, consent, memory, institutional control, and the difference between holding responsibility and owning people. It asks whether tyranny can truly be defeated if victory requires taking possession of the same tools that made tyranny possible. This publication was prepared using tools that support the creative process, including artificial intelligence solutions. The final concept, structure and editing are the responsibility of the author.

Royalty & Courts Magic Identity Political Intrigue Memory Rebellion Dystopian Mystery Thriller Found Family Hero