Girls of Paper and Fire

Lei belongs to the Paper caste, the least powerful people in a kingdom ruled by demons. Taken from her home to become one of the king’s consorts, she enters a palace where beauty offers no protection from coercion. Training and courtly expectations are meant to teach obedience, but Lei’s relationship with another girl, Wren, opens a different possibility. Their feelings develop within a system that treats their bodies and futures as someone else’s property. As Lei learns more about the forces surrounding her, survival becomes entangled with resistance. This opening fantasy novel follows a young woman confronting institutional power, forbidden love and the dangerous decision to imagine freedom.