House of Scepters — Anne Zoelle

In a magical Persian Empire, an extraordinary thief will steal a ruthless warrior's heart, upend an empire, and form bonds deeper than blood.When the power to rule all is in your hand, what will you do?Opening portals, controlling shadows, or creating storms are all in a day's work for the legendary thief, ruthless shadow mage, loyal fugitive, and wicked scoundrel who rule four different parts of the Sunlight Empire. Fighting against each other to search for the relic that can create and destroy worlds will be far more of a challenge.Falling in love will be even worse.From the publisher: In an age of myth, four characters struggle to rise above their families and pasts amidst a landscape of wonder, despair, war, and love.The first book in a trilogy about unbreakable bonds, powerless characters discovering their own power, and powerful characters realizing their weaknesses, the House of Scepters is an action adventure story that features four protagonists from different segments of a ruthlessly expanding empire.This series contains strong found family themes and rising above one's origin story and birth. Other themes that are explored in this series are power, love, sacrifice, trust, abuse, and becoming who you want to be.