The Sword of the Land

When she is eight years old, Rilsin sae Becha, heir to the throne of Saeditin, sees her mother killed in a civil war that will put her cousin Sithli on the throne. Sithli saves Rilsin from execution and Rilsin pledges her loyalty to both Sithli and to the land, vowing to keep the peace. Rilsin becomes First Minister at age seventeen, and later the commander of the army, while Sithli becomes a selfish and heartless ruler. Rilsin suppresses her own desires, marrying at Sithli’s command, forgoing her feelings for Saeditin’s foremost inventor, the man who is leading the nation to the brink of an industrial revolution.  Rilsin makes peace with northern tribes and defends her nation against an invasion from the south. The real problem for the land of Saeditin is that Sithli, their queen, the Saeket, ignores the welfare of the common people. Rilsin begins to realize that she cannot keep her pledge to both her cousin and to the land at the same time. With the common people supporting her, Rilsin must act to regain the throne.