The Bite of Rust

At the top of a high mountain, on the edge of a vast desert, the Fortress of Rust waits. The home of the greatest assassins in the world, no one knows their secret. Every fourth year they take in a hundred four-year-old girls and turn out one master assassin. The assassins of the fortress topple kings, move borders and end dynasties with their skills.

Lila Ariette’s mother just died, and no one in her kingdom has a place for a little orphan girl. Bundled onto a cart and sent to join the assassins, Lila is going to find out the secret of the fortress. It’s a secret most people would happily go their lives not learning.