The Ember and the Shadow. Fire and Metal, #2

A year after the traitor Lord Valerius was brought to justice, the kingdom of Aethelgard enjoys a fragile peace. Warden Elara is finally building her dream: a Royal Academy where magic-users can learn their craft without fear. By her side is Commander Seraphina, the formidable leader of the Warden's Guard and the anchor of Elara's world. But their quiet life is irrevocably shattered when an assassination attempt on a northern general reveals that the shadow of Valerius and his Obsidian Hand conspiracy runs deeper than they ever imagined.
As the aggressive northern kingdom of Vorlag masses its armies on the border, the King makes a terrible choice. Seraphina, the kingdom's most capable commander, is sent to the frigid north to hold the line against a full-scale invasion, a war made more perilous by the traitors hiding within her own ranks. Left behind in the capital, Elara is tasked with an even more dangerous mission: to unmask the mastermind of the conspiracy hiding within the viper pit of the royal court.
Forced to trade her Warden's robes for the masks of a spy, Elara must navigate a deadly game of political intrigue where a single misstep means death. With the help of the grim General Theron and his secret network of agents, she begins to unravel a plot more terrifying than a simple coup-a chemical genocide aimed at every magic-user in the city. Separated by hundreds of miles but bound by their unwavering love, Elara and Seraphina fight their own desperate battles.
From the blood-soaked snow of a besieged fortress to the gilded, treacherous halls of a corrupt court, The Ember and the Shadow is a tale of two women fighting a war on two fronts for the soul of their kingdom, and for a future they can share together.