#*wilfred earl of gloucester voice* yeah i’ll not legally acknowledge my bastard son and send him to boarding school

[kitabasis]

Gilded Serpents

In an alternate England governed by mage dynasties, the impending death of a family head means a competition among their heirs. The prize? A ritual taking of the head’s life, and with it, their title, and the combined magic—and souls—of all their dynasty’s previous leaders. The competition, is, predictably, fierce.

And it’s never fiercer than when it’s for the crown.

The eighty-year-old King of England is dying, and the whole country knows the competition will begin any day now. None know it better than his three daughters:

Gunnel, 24, ruthlessly practical and constantly overworked, who tried—and failed—to fill the space the absent Queen left behind, and hides her longing for a life ruled by herself alone

Aikaterine, 22, easily personable and subtly manipulative, who resents her status as the forgettable middle child just as much as she uses it to her advantage, and secretly has no idea who she is by herself

Calla—her father’s unabashed favorite—16, prodigiously powerful and incredibly principled (and autistic), who memorized every subtle rule of behavior to survive, but now is adrift as her father grows unpredictable

As the days pass, the King’s behavior gets ever more erratic, the competition approaches, and a certain bastard’s resentment of his family grows, it becomes clear that this will be a competition to remember.

Let the games begin.