Introduction to Imperial Soulmates

Short book synopsis

Hélène is happy with her anonymous life, hiding her status as one of the emperor's soulmates. Yet, when he is kidnapped, she cannot resist using their magical connection to save him to have him lift the legal curse on her friend as a reward. Unfortunately, this exposes her secret, making the emperor highly suspicious of her, a dangerous thing while being forced to live in a palace full of intrigues...

Genre: Romantic Fantasy, Futuristic Fantasy, Science Fantasy.
Location: A futuristic world with an all powerful empire spanning over several continents.
Interest: Explore a futuristic world filled with unique magical technologies that are in constant evolution, and follow an enchantress having to adapt to the changes while playing dangerous political games.

Imperial portrait by AmélieIS

The world

Politics

A great part of the world is covered by a gigantic federal empire. It survives despite its size thanks to the high degree of independence of its regions and the fact that local elites are still allowed to rule them. An emperor is chosen through a tournament to rule over the empire. Although his power is limited, the title carry a lot of prestige. There is a lot of tension between the empire and the rest of the world, as they all know it's only a question of time before the empire will come after them.

Technology

In the empire, almost everyone lives in big and highly technologically advanced cities, while the rest of the territory is covered by highly efficient farms and by a lot of rewildened areas. The cities all integrate the latest form of organic magitech with the use of live plants and fungi for the most complex form of magic, such as the empire mycelium-anchored communication hub or the trees used to create adjustable buildings with moving rooms and weather wards.
Right now some of the biggest technological challenges are to enhance the communication and transport hubs, but also to expand the capabilities of manufactures to mass-produced magical artefacts.

Society

Each region of the empire has its own particularities, but they all have in common a class divides between the local elites (whether they're called nobles or not) and the rest of the population.
Among the favoured hobbies of imperial cities are board or physical games mixing strategies and magical training, as well as the communal practice of arts. Local competitions around these are sure to generate a very healthy (or not) amount of rivalry.

Main character

Hélène

Hélène's family leads one of the most important regions of the empire. Her Grandmother is very authoritarian and attempted to dictate how she should led her life, and so Hélène simply decided to leave to go live her own life under an assumed name - although not without "borrowing" a considerable amount of money from her family.
She has a successful business as an enchantress, one of the experts creating magical artefacts that have to be tailored for a specific client or need or that are far too complex to be mass produced by the manufactures of the empire. This allows Hélène to live a comfortable life.

Hélène's secret

Hélène is one of the emperor's soulmates - one of only a dozen individuals throughout the world with magic identical to his, and so able to to enhance it or go through his wards. Both an asset and a potential threat, and so someone to be brought to the imperial palace and cosseted and watched carefully. But this is not the life Hélène wants for herself, and so she simply failed to reveal that small detail to anyone.
If this ever comes out, no one at the imperial palace is of course going to be very happy with her, and they're going to wonder what hidden motivations she had or doing this...

Hélène's weakness

Hélène's best friend, Julie, would also win her the disapproval and distrust of the imperial palace. Indeed, the emperor cast a judicial curse on a couple who betrayed him and the empire, but by mistake the curse transmitted to their child, Julie, and she now suffers disabling chronic pain because of it. And being associated with Julie is not going to help Hélène if she is ever forced to join the imperial soulmated group.

Conflicts

Rebellion against the empire from foreign countries.

Some of the numerous federal regions wanting to regain their independence.

People wanting to become the next emperor and wanting to "accelerate" the imperial inheritance.

People with their own political aims (such as practicing forbidden magic) that they intend to impose on whoever happens to be the emperor.

Hélène's finding her place in the imperial palace, among the emperor's soulmated group and all the deadly intrigues despite her soulmates' distrust.

All of those people naturally focus on the emperor and his soulmated group.

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