The empire doesn't destroy sacred places. It simply claims them.
When the Valdric Compact seized the fortress of Korda, it didn't raze the holy site. It filed a legal motion. Now, years after a catastrophic collapse killed 212 of its builders, Korda stands half-finished and contested, and the only man with the skill to complete it is the one who carries those deaths like stones in his chest.
Davan is a master builder, not a prophet. But when he's commissioned to reconstruct Korda under imperial oversight and on imperial terms, he finds himself caught between a priest who calls the work an act of faithfulness and a commander who calls it capitulation. A young laborer whose parent died in the original collapse watches from the margins. An imperial translator assigned to the site begins to wonder what she once left behind.
At the heart of the dispute lies the Dravan Covenant, a founding manuscript that is simultaneously a sacred text, a legal property claim, and a promise made before the first stone was ever laid. The empire wants it buried. The people it belongs to cannot afford to let it be.
The question isn't whether Korda can be rebuilt. It's whether faithfulness still means anything when the empire holds the permits.
Perfect for fans of Sharon Hinck, Jill Williamson, and Karen Hancock. The Grounded is secondary-world Christian fantasy for readers who believe that what we build, and why we build it, matters to the Foundation of all things.
