An Ember in the Ashes (Bk. 1)

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free. Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Laia and her family do not challenge the Empire. They've seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia's brother is arrested for treason, she is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire's greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school's finest soldier - and secretly, its most unwilling. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined - and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.