Of Truth and Treason

Three empires, one war, the fate of all in the balance.

Branded as a traitor for his father’s actions, Lan Tallan has received nothing but scorn from those around him, even those he once called friends. Desperate to prove his father’s innocence and restore honor to his family, Tallan joins the Hu army under a false identity. If they discover his lineage, they will execute him just like they did his father.

Thrown into the heart of a brutal war, Tallan begins to uncover fractures in the story he has been told. The Bao—long deemed the Hu’s foes—don’t seem evil, in fact, they claim they aren’t his enemy and that the real enemy is much closer at hand.

As secrets unravel and loyalties blur, Tallan is forced to confront an unsettling possibility: his father may not have been a traitor, but a man silenced for seeking the truth. If the war itself is built on lies, choosing a side may cost Tallan far more than his life—it may decide the fate of all three empires.

This book is part of A Twist of Tales, a series of nonmagical Christian genderbent fairy tale retellings with epic adventures and animal companions.