In a land torn between empires—Chola, Pandya, Chera, and Pallava—the balance begins to crack.
When the border village of Thenur is abandoned by its rulers, seventeen-year-old Vaerin, son of a headman, chooses to stand and fight. With nothing but old soldiers, scared farmers, and sharpened farm tools, he defends his home against a professional army—and wins.
But this victory is only the beginning.
As the world shifts and kingdoms plot, Vaerin is sent into the heart of military power. There, he must survive politics, training, and betrayal to rise as something more than a warrior:
A king made not by blood… but by fire.
For fans of grounded fantasy, Tamil-inspired worlds, and slow-burn rise-to-power epics.