False Light

<p>In the aftermath of the Battle of Varna the Ottoman frontier seethes with unrest. Janissary officer Tahsin lives by simple rules: never stand out never volunteer and never trust a nobleman. But when he is assigned a diplomatic mission into the fractious Serbian Despotate those rules begin to break.</p><p></p><p>His companions are as dangerous as the land itself: Cem an ambitious Sipahi hungry for glory and Koja a masked warrior whose silent strength hides a violent past. Their task to collect the boy-levy owed to the Sultan turns into something far darker when Despot Đurađ Branković demands their help in hunting a creature that mutilates its victims and steals children from their beds.</p><p></p><p>What begins as a hunt for a wolf becomes a descent into the supernatural. The soldiers uncover alchemical horrors fae legends made flesh and a conspiracy reaching from the Serbian court to a rogue Cardinal who traffics in forbidden miracles. As illusions warp reality and loyalties splinter Tahsin must choose between duty and conscience and decide what kind of man he will become.</p>