MARIAH NORRIS
The SEVEN STRANDS SERIES
Hands Like Secrets
Saeli has always been different: she is autistic, in a world that doesn’t have a word for people like her.
She attends the exclusive institute of Aschamon, learning to harness her inner qi and preparing to join the battle between her people and their enemies, the Crimson Cowls. But despite her years of work, her teachers still refuse to elevate her to Silver Mantle status and dedicate her to their god’s service.
When notorious Crimson Cowl Rafel Kailar breaks into her school, it is either cruel irony…or fate…that Saeli is there to confront him.
But Rafel is nothing like the Cowls she’s been taught to hate. He draws her in with his charm and reveals his ultimate ambition: to overthrow the gods of Verre and end a hundred years of war. And he needs Saeli’s help.
As she is pulled deeper into Rafel’s schemes, Saeli fears she’ll be forced to choose whose side she’s truly on: her people, who have never understood her…or Rafel, who’d gladly turn her world upside-down to kill the gods.
Secrets Like Glass
Saeli, once an aspiring Silver Mantle at the qi-training institute of Aschamon, is now an exile in her own city.
She spends her days hidden, training with Rafel—Crimson Cowl, enemy, visionary—learning the form that will take them to the powerful anhela who’ll eliminate their world’s gods…or so they hope. But to create such a complex form, Saeli needs an anchor: a glass object capable of holding qi weaves, which she and Rafel will have to steal.
Despite their need to act as a team, Rafel still refuses to bring Saeli into his full confidence, and Saeli fears he may still be hiding aspects of his grand plan. Worse, a rival Crimson cell has moved into the city, and its ras, Grisen, seems determined to thwart Rafel’s every move. If he has to murder Saeli to accomplish that, so be it.
As obstacles mount and Rafel’s glass-stealing schemes continually fail, Saeli’s chances of successfully dancing Rafel’s bridge form look bleak. If she’s captured—by Grisen or Aschamon—she knows everything she’s sacrificed for Rafel’s plan will have been in vain.
She is determined not to fail.
Mariah Norris is a fantasy writer, artist, and symphonic metal enthusiast from the balmy Florida coast, where she lives with her husband, son, and three cats. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find her drawing portraits and fan art, dabbling in anything from gardening to candle making, or spending far too much time consuming fanfiction.
She can be found on Twitter @nevertherose or on her website, www.mariahnorris.com