The Bastard Queen: A Throne of Thorns and Sorcery by Alex Evans

A bastard queen. A forbidden mage. An empire's secret buried beneath her throne.Three things Astar knows for certain: she's good with a sword, she's terrible at diplomacy, and the Bramble Throne is the most uncomfortable seat in the Twelve Realms.She killed her traitorous uncle in single combat to claim it. Three months later, she's fending off marriage proposals, a hostile council, and two invading armies, one of them led by a dark sorceress. When Astar ends up in her dungeon, the only way out involves trusting a half-dead mage who shouldn't exist in a kingdom that burns people like him.Hathan is brilliant, sarcastic, and carrying secrets about Astar's bloodline that rewrite everything she thought she knew about her family and her throne. But breaking out is only the beginning. To save her kingdom, she will need forbidden magic, a portal between worlds, and a choice so reckless it makes her trial by combat look sensible.In the Twelve Realms, queens don't wait to be rescued. They do the rescuing, the killing, and the throne-claiming themselves.The Bastard Queen is epic fantasy with a sharp-tongued heroine, slow-burn romance, political scheming, and enough blood to keep things honest. First in a series.