The Zero Enigma

Caitlyn Aguirre should have been a magician. Her family certainly expected her to be a magician. But by the time she reached her 12th birthday, Caitlyn hadn't even managed to cast a single spell! In desperation, her parents send her - and her magical sisters—to Jude's Sorcerous Academy, her last best chance to discover her powers. But as she struggles to survive her classes without a single spell to her name, Caitlyn starts to uncover an ancient mystery that may prove the key to her true powers....

Caitlyn Aguirre is no magician—but that doesn't make her useless. After discovering her true talent and uncovering the long-lost secret behind Objects of Power, Cat returns to school—intent on showing everyone what she can do. But her mere existence is a threat to the balance of power, convincing some to befriend her, some to try to use her...and some to remove her.

Caitlyn and her friends have returned to Jude’s Sorcerous Academy, but all is not well in the school. The Great Houses of Shallot are on the verge of going to war, and the conflict is spilling into the school; in the background, powerful and secretive forces prepare to finally reveal their plans to reshape the world. Caught in the middle, torn between her family and her friends - and burdened with a secret she dares not share - Cat must unlock the secret of the Zero Equation...or watch helplessly as her family, friends, and school are destroyed by war.

Isabella Rubén is a traitor - at 12 years old. Disgraced, abandoned by her friends and shunned by her family, Isabella is sent into exile with scant hope of returning to her former home. Her destination, Kirkhaven Hall; a stone mansion miles from civilization, inhabited only by a pair of older exiles. As she tries to settle into Kirkhaven Hall and a life far from the one she enjoyed before her fall from grace, she discovers that the hall has secrets. Intruders on the grounds, ghostly shadows moving at night, and a plot that may destroy everything she once held dear.

Five months after the House War, the city of Shallot is on edge. The Great Houses plot and plan against one another, while the magicians rebuild and the common folk fear another outburst of fighting. And one young nobleman has a plan. Rebecca is a half-caste shopgirl in an apothecary, dreaming of an apprenticeship that will allow her to rise out of poverty and finally make a name for herself in a city that has no use for her kind.

Six years ago, in the aftermath of the House War that nearly tore Shallot apart, Akin Rubén and Caitlyn Aguirre were betrothed in a bid to keep their rival families from returning to war. Now, with both of them on the brink of maturity, that marriage is starting to loom. The moment of choice, when they must decide to go through with the wedding or risk their families resuming their rivalry, is fast approaching.

The City of Shallot is on the verge of revolution. The Great Houses are mustering their forces, readying themselves for a shift in the balance of power. The poor have found a new leader and are - finally - demanding their rights. Shadowy figures and old ghosts are prowling the streets. It is only a matter of time before the unease and unrest explodes into violence, as the wealthy and powerful seek to secure themselves in a changing world. And dark forces are laying plans to take advantage of the chaos.

The once-great mansion is decaying, the vast network of clients have broken ties long ago, and the remaining family scrabbles over crumbs as the last remnants of their fortune are spent repaying their debts. The family seems doomed, beyond all hope of salvation. Lucy Lamplighter, returning to her home after her father’s death, intends to save her family by any means necessary. Gambling everything she has left, she stakes it all on a desperate bid to rebuild House Lamplighter before the vultures begin to swoop.

House Rubén and House Aguirre had been rivals for centuries even before the discovery of the Zero Talent and a plot to take control of Shallot plunged them—and the entire city—into war. In a desperate attempt to end the fighting, Akin of House Rubén was betrothed to the only known Zero, Caitlyn of House Aguirre. Since then, the two houses have been locked in an uneasy alliance, painfully aware that they will hang separately if they do not hang together. But, as the marriage starts to loom over the city, Akin Rubén discovers a deadly secret.

A thousand years ago, an empire died. No one knew why. Not until now. Seven years ago, Caitlyn “Cat” Aguirre–the first of the magicless Zeros–was kidnapped and taken to the ruins of the Eternal City. There, she discovered the dread secret behind the collapse of the Thousand-Year Empire, a secret she knew she didn’t dare share with the world. But now, with strange sightings and energies emitting from the ruined city, and a darkening political situation back home, Cat has no choice but to return to the dead city. And what she finds there will change everything....

Kirkhaven Hall has been home to Isabella Rubén ever since she was sent into exile for treason. It has always been a strange place; isolated, wrapped in dark clouds and ancient magics. No one really knows what’s hidden there, from eerie ghosts and warlocks to secrets House Rubén not only has kept from the rest of the world, but has itself forgotten. They thought those secrets would remain buried for eternity. But now, as Isabella and her fiancé return from their holiday in Shallot, those secrets are starting to slip into the light.

For centuries, the Great Houses of Shallot have ruled the city through a complex network of power and influence, dividing and destroying factions that threatened their rule. But the latest crisis may be beyond their power to subvert and defeat. The commoners have finally found a leader, while the aristocrats are deeply divided amongst themselves; their magic is no longer trustworthy, and their right to rule is threatened as never before.

For centuries, the Kingdoms of Tintagel and Garstang have been rivals, battling endlessly over the borderlands with neither kingdom able to win a decisive victory, let alone knock the other out once and for all. But now, Garstang has unlocked the secret of recreating ancient war machines and unleashed an army out of nightmares, a magical-mechanical force grinding its way through once-impregnable defences and advancing on Shallot. Giant metal monsters stalk the land, crawling metal locusts tear through walls and defences, flying machines hover overhead or roam far behind the lines.