Where power is not granted—but taken. And magic always leaves a mark.
In the world of The Hollow Queen, magic is not a gentle gift.
It does not twinkle. It does not flutter. It claims.
It is divine, yes. Sacred, even.
But it is also cruel. Seductive. Corruptive.
And above all—honest.
Because here, magic is not about spells or potions or the waving of hands.
It is about desire, dominion, and the slow, inevitable transformation that comes from touching something the gods meant to bury.
The Art of the Gaze: Leila Morana’s Weapon Is Her Will
In Vows of Shadow, you won’t find Leila Morana lifting a sword, loosing arrows, or chanting spells in a flurry of sparks and flame. She is not that kind of heroine (villain?).
Leila fights with presence. With silence. With a stare that tightens throats and a voice that feels like the edge of a dagger poised beneath the ribs. Her power is subtler than steel, but far more dangerous—because it moves through the mind. Through intent. Through perception.
She will destroy you without lifting a hand.
From the moment she arrives at Ravaryn, Leila’s weapon is not physical force but the unflinching force of will. Her gaze is appraising, sharp, cold—and it cuts. She doesn’t argue. She doesn’t plead. She looks. And you understand.
You’re beneath her.
And in a world where strength is usually defined by brute power, this is what makes her terrifying.
She does not cast spells like a trained sorceress. She was never taught how to channel magic, not in the traditional sense. Instead, Leila is marked—blessed by something darker. Her abilities unfold in whispers: she can bend perception, alter memory, mask herself in illusions. But even before her powers awaken fully, she controls the room with sheer command. She speaks, and men stop breathing. She walks, and silence follows. She learns to see into the truths people hide—and to twist them.
Leila’s power is psychological.
Dominance. Precision. Strategy. She understands that true conquest begins in the mind, in how others see you. And in Vows of Shadow, she learns to weaponize that gaze—to turn it into something that not only protects her, but rules.
This is not a story of a girl learning to wield a blade. It’s the story of a woman who is the blade.
Sharp. Elegant. Unrelenting.
She doesn’t fight like a heroine. She conquers like a queen.
🕯️ Sight and Shadow: Perception as Power
Before Leila ever called a monster from the dark—
before her marks shaped the world—
her magic whispered in subtler ways.
She could see through people.
Not just their faces, but their lies. Their cracks.
The soft underbelly of want and weakness beneath their polished words.
It was not mind-reading.
It was worse.
She could feel intention.
The weight of unspoken things.
And once she began to recognize it—she could manipulate it.
And when they looked at her?
They saw only what she allowed.
🫧 Illusion: Not What’s Real—But What You Believe
Leila’s first acts of power were not violent.
They were visual.
A shimmer in the air. A trick of the eye. A dress made of shadow. A face hidden until she chose to reveal it.
These illusions weren’t just tricks.
They were tools of sovereignty.
She could mask her presence.
Make herself vanish—or appear in impossible ways.
She could rewrite perception with a whisper of thought.
And they would believe it.
Because Leila didn’t need brute force to conquer.
She needed you to see her differently—
and never quite be sure what was real.
👁️ Divine Influence: Gods Who Whisper—and Watch
The divine in The Hollow Queen is not always kind.
There are gods beneath stone, buried in black pools, watching from mirrors.
Some speak in riddles. Some press their will like heat against your skin.
Some know what you want before you do, and make you crave it even more.
Leila does not worship them.
She listens. She bargains. She marks herself in return.
Power comes at a cost.
But she is always willing to pay.
🩸 Transformation: Magic as Becoming
More than anything, the magic in this world is not about control over others.
It’s about control over self.
About becoming what the world tried to deny you.
About taking the parts of you that were silenced, suppressed, feared—and letting them rise.
When Leila claims her power, she doesn’t simply become stronger.
She becomes herself. More fully. More dangerously. More completely.
And once she does, no one—not lover, not god, not king—will ever rule her again.
In The Hollow Queen, magic is not a fantasy.
It is a weapon. A seduction. A mirror.
And if you dare reach for it—
It will reach back.
But…
If Leila ever needs a heavier hand—if blood must be spilled or a body dragged into submission—she doesn’t dirty hers.
She has people for that.
Drazan, the warlord husband whose name alone has silenced uprisings. Calrix, the assassin who kills in silence and shadows, his loyalty worn like a second skin. Cassian, charming and clever, still learning that love for Leila often comes sharpened like a blade. And Selvara, the watchful advisor at her right hand—precise, calculating, and cold as winter steel.
Each of them follows not because they are bound by chains, but because they are bound by choice. By awe. By want.
She surrounds herself with danger and commands it.
That’s part of her genius: she doesn’t have to throw punches or cast fire to be feared. Others do that for her, willingly. Eagerly. Not because she forces them, but because she makes them want to. Because they believe in her. Or fear her. Or—more often—both.
And when the moment calls for more than words?
She simply looks to her side.
Power, after all, does not always mean getting your hands bloody. Sometimes it means knowing exactly who will bleed for you.
That’s Leila Morana.
She doesn’t fight like a warrior. She rules like a sovereign.
And no one walks away unchanged.
Once again, don’t forget to sign up for the mailing list to get a FREE copy of the novella The Shadowed Bride and get all the news about this series as it develops and we get closer to the release date…which is set for early December currently.
The Shadowed Bride has a new cover, based on a recent poll on Insta where I asked about discreet covers or spicy character covers. 🙂
The Hollow Queen Series 
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