History Literature / TheEmpiriumTrilogy

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Corien wants to bring back the angels. To do that, he needs human bodies to house each angel and, while that's going on, he wants to subdue or kill the rest.

* FantasyContraception: Maidsright herbs are a type of medicinal plant that acts as a form of birth control. Ludivine takes Rielle to a physician to obtain some after Rielle and Audric get caught in the middle of having sex.

* FeministFantasy: The series features two female leads that drive their own stories. %%Flesh out later

* BlessedWithSuck: Rielle can control all seven elements without the need of a casting. However, it's these exact powers that mark her as one of the prophesied Queens and the ways in which she uses them become increasingly destructive.

* DarkActionGirl: Rielle is an assets for Corien, since she can easily overpowers her opponents in a fight.

-->''"The prophecy, this talk of a Sun Queen and a Blood Queen... it is folly. Humans aren’t all goodness or all badness, and reducing Rielle to this choice— presenting her with two impossible and inhuman extremes— is a terrible cruelty, and it will be our undoing."''

* HighFantasy: The series takes place on Avitas, a world governed by a magical structure and the various magical beings that live there. Angels were the first sapient bipedal species to appear. When humans started to arrive on the scene, hostilities emerged, eventually culminating in a giant war. The hostilities felt between these two species permeate even into Eliana's time. (By that time, the existence of angels is thought to be a myth.) Both Rielle and Eliana are tasked with saving their world from the angels lest their leader, Corien, take it over and wipe out humanity.

* FantasyContraception: Maidsright is a type of medicinal herb that acts as a form of birth control. Ludivine takes Rielle to a physician to obtain some after Rielle and Audric get caught in the middle of having sex.

* FantasyContraception: Maidsherbs are a type of medicinal plant that act as a form of birth control. Ludivine takes Rielle to a physician to obtain some after Rielle and Audric finally become a couple.

* FantasticRacism: There is equal animosity between humans and angels. Angels hate humans because they keep taking land they lived on first. Humans hate angels because the angels keep hunting them down. Both species despise marques because of their half-breed nature and their powers over space and time.

''The Empirium Trilogy'' is a series of [[YoungAdultLiterature young adult]] [[HighFantasy high fantasy]] novels written by Claire Legrand. The series consists of:

* AbusiveParents: Rielle's father, Armand, was once a [[GoodParents good parent]] before his wife's (unintentional) death at the hands of Rielle. After this event, he began to treat Rielle incredibly coldly either by ignoring her or not showing her any affection. Growing up, Rielle was constantly reminded by him that she's a "murderer" and dangerous, as well as bringing her to the lower parts of the castle and forcibly drugging her whenever a storm comes through. Rielle believes that he would keep her locked in a room for the rest of her life if he could get away with it.

** In ''Lightbringer'', after [[spoiler: successfully convincing Rielle to destroy Corien, future-Eliana and Remy disappear. The end of the book shows a new timeline in which Audric and his daughter are living happily in a slowly recuperating Celdaria]].

* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler:When Rielle defeats Corien, future-Eliana and Remy disappear since their timeline no longer came to pass. The epilogue only focuses on the aftermath of the battle with Corien, leaving it unclear what the fate of Navi, Harkan, and all the other Third Age characters are.]]

* AnyoneCanDie: By the end of the series, several named characters are dead and the fate of many, many others is left ambiguous.

* BarrierMaiden: It's said that the Sun Queen will be the one to save the world from the Blood Queen's reign. While Eliana doesn't see herself as a Sun Queen, [[spoiler: she does wind up being the one to save Avitas by encouraging Rielle to destroy Corien for good]].
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The series ends with Eliana convincing Rielle to permanently finish off Corien. She ends up killing Ludivine in the process and future-Eliana and Remy disappear since their timeline no longer came to pass. Rielle still dies in a flash of light, but she manages to leave behind a letter to her daughter that assures her that she loves her. And with humanities biggest threat gone, the world is a little safer (at least for now).]]

* BlowYouAway: Windsingers are people who can manipulate air.

** During the Third Age, crawlers are creatures who were originally human but were so experimented upon that they became ferocious monsters. All of them still retain some human-like features. During the Second Age, they were ice dragons that were also experimented upon so they could use magic.
** After coming across a severely wounded villager, Rielle tries to heal his burns. Not only does it not work, the flesh she tries to regrow ends up enveloping her hands. By the time Audric snaps her out of her trance, that villager is just a large puddle of blood and guts.
* BountyHunter: Rozen used to be a bounty hunter for the Undying Empire until an injury forced her to retire. Eliana continued Rozen's work in order to support her family and keep them safe. Harkan became one because he didn't want Eliana to work on her own.

* CompleteImmortality: It's impossible for an angel to die of old age, disease, wounds, etc. The only way to successfully kill one is by severing their connection to the empirium.

* {{Cult}}: Fidelia is a group of angel worshipers who aid the Undying Empire in their various experiments. They're ultimately the ones behind the abduction of countless of women and girls.

* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Both Eliana and Rielle end up holding their remaining parent in their final moments.
* DifferentlyPoweredIndividual: Humans who have power over one of seven elements are called "elementals".

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:Rozen]] manages to regain enough of her humanity in her final moments to ask Eliana to kill her.
* ElementalPowers: There are seven elements available to elementals: sun, air, fire, water, shadow, metal and earth. Excluding the Sun and Blood Queen, each elemental can only use and eventually master one element.
* EncyclopediaExposita: Some of the quotes at the beginning of each chapter are taken from an InUniverse historical or academic book. These excerpts are used as a way to expand upon the world of Avitas in further detail without disrupting the overall pacing.
* EndOfAnAge: The end of the Angelic Wars ushered in the Second Age and the fall of elementals is what ushers in the Third Age. Even before Rielle's last spell nullifies all elemental magic, it's stated that magic in general has been on the decline.

* FantasyPantheon: The seven Saints were humans that were each exceptionally gifted in a particular magic. They created the Gate and were the ones that helped end the Angelic Wars. In Rielle's time, temples dedicated to each Saint exist as well as prayers related to that particular saint's magic. There are also many references to God, but it's unclear if this God is the same or similar to the Christian God/[[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]].
* FateWorseThanDeath: Upon entering the Deep, the angels were stripped of their bodies. All of their senses became muted and many of them became far weaker than they were before. Possessing a body doesn't help; no matter how much they eat or drink or how much sex they have, they can never get complete fulfillment or satisfaction from these activities.

* FictionalDocument: There are multiple chapters that start off with excerpts from in-universe texts, letters, and other such documents. They're used to give the audience a glimpse into what's going on in the background or flesh out the world of Avitas.
* {{Foil}}: Ludivine is a foil to Corien. They both used to be angels who were forced into the Deep by the Saints. Both use their angelic powers in order to achieve their goals, and they both become leaders of powerful organizations. That's where the similarities end: unlike Corien, who hates humans and can't forgive them for what the Saints did, Ludivine has nothing but love and understanding for humans. As such, she's naturally on the opposing side, and tries to help out where she can, both with Rielle as herself [[spoiler: and Eliana as the Prophet]].
* ForegoneConclusion: There's no attempts made to hide which of the prophesied Queens Rielle and Eliana are. The main questions then become "What events lead to Rielle becoming the Blood Queen?" and "Will Eliana be able to defeat the Undying Emperor?". Additionally, since Eliana refers to Audric as Rielle's husband and that Eliana herself is their daughter, the sexual tension between Audric and Rielle will culminate in their marriage and Rielle becoming pregnant.

** There are several hints behind the Prophet's true identity hidden throughout the series before the ultimate reveal. One of the earliest is the voice that urges Simon to make a portal. It's described as sounding feminine and familiar to him. Since Simon has already met [[spoiler:Ludivine]], it's little wonder that he can recognize it.
** When Zahra first feels Simon's presence, she remarks that his mind is so scarred that not even she can read it. [[spoiler:This is because his mind was broken years ago by Ludivine in order to make it more difficult for Corien to read.]]
* FromBadToWorse: For both Rielle and Eliana in ''Kingsbane''. Rielle starts out the book with many dissenters who accuse her of being the Blood Queen and finishes the book [[spoiler:mindlessly killing bodyguards on her way to join Corien]]. In Eliana's case, the mission to travel back in time to stop Rielle wasn't as easy as Simon had thought and the consequences of her time in Old Celdaria changed several people and past events for the worse. [[spoiler:Then Simon reveals that he's been working for the Undying Empire this whole time and her once thought-to-be deceased father turns out to be the Emperor's Admiral.]]

* GreatOffscreenWar: The Angelic Wars were a series of ongoing battles between humans and angels. Since these battles happened centuries ago, we hear a lot about them, but never see them.
* HalfBreedDiscrimination: Marques were hunted down by both angels and humans, not just because of their half-breed status, but also because each marque possesses the unique power to cross time and space.

%% HeelFaceRevolvingDoor:

* HighFantasy: The series takes place in Avitas, a world governed by a magical structure and the various magical beings that live there. Angels were the first sapient bipedal species to appear. When humans started to arrive on the scene, hostilities emerged, eventually culminating in a giant war. The hostilities felt between these two species permeate even into Eliana's time. (By that time, the existence of angels is thought to be a complete myth.) Both Rielle and Eliana are tasked with saving their world from the angels lest their leader, Corien, take it over and wipe out humanity.

* HowWeGotHere: The prologue shows Rielle giving birth to Eliana and facing down Corien, an encounter that leads to Eliana and Simon being thrust into the future and the empirium being smothered. The narrative then jumps back two years ago to a time before Rielle's powers were even widely known; the rest of her story details how she got to the state she was in during the prologue.
* IAmAMonster: Eliana sees herself as a heartless monster due to her work as a bounty hunter for the very Empire that took over her home kingdom. This view of herself gets worse after unleashing her powers in catastrophic ways and finding out that her birth mother was the Blood Queen herself. After some soul searching, she does come to terms with her powers and her heritage. As such, her self-image improves.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Ludivine suggests partaking in some celebratory drinks after Rielle successfully completes the first trial. Much later on, Rielle damages the Gate even more and the Obex give Rielle the task of finding the Saint's castings on her own. Ingrid offers up a round of drinks to which Ludivine holds up her hand.

* ImpartialPurposeDrivenFaction: The Obex aren't associated with any particular country or ruler. Their main goal and purpose is to protect and study the Gate.
* IncitingIncident: Rielle fighting off Audric's assassins is what makes her reveal her powers, kicking off her storyline. Rozen's disappearance is what gets Eliana to team up with the Wolf, which starts hers.

* InterspeciesRomance: Saint Katell was in love with the angel Aryava. It's that same love that helped bring an end to the Angelic Wars.
* KillAllHumans: Angels see all humans as an invasive species that's trying to take over their homeland. They attempted to wipe humanity out as a result of this.
* LastOfHisKind: Eliana is the last member of House Courverie, and both she and Simon are the last of the original Celdarians.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Corien the Undying Emperor has spent a ''lot'' of time thinking about Rielle and his love for her that he can't focus on much else. By the time he has Eliana in his clutches, the need to see his long lost love again trumps even his desire for resurrection.
* LoveObstructingParents: Rielle's father and both Ludivine's and Audric's parents don't approve of Rielle and Audric becoming a couple. In Ludivine and Audric's case it's because their parents want to join their families in marriage. In Rielle's case, it's because her father doesn't want her to overshadow Audric's talent or accidentally kill him.
* TheMagicComesBack: Rielle implies during her explanations to Evyline that this might happen at some point in the future which is why she'll let her daughter and a couple others keep their powers.
* TheMagicGoesAway: Unable to withstand the constant pain of keeping her body together, Rielle's last act of magic ends up suppressing everyone's contact with the empirium, turning elementals back to powerless humans. [[spoiler: In the new timeline, Rielle does this deliberately, only letting three people keep their connection to the empirium.]]

* {{Matricide}}: Part of Rielle's backstory includes her unwittingly killing her mother. [[spoiler: After Rozen becomes a literal monster, Eliana kills her to put her out of her misery.]]
* MercyKill: When one of the crawlers attacking her turns out to be [[spoiler:Rozen]], Eliana kills her, knowing that it's too late to save her.
* MindControl: An angel can easily take control over anyone weaker than it, even after becoming a wraith. The only beings that they can't control are the cruciata, due to their wildly different minds.
* MindRape: Angels can easily take over a human's mind and damage it beyond repair. [[spoiler: Simon]] experienced this at the hands of both Ludivine and Corien, each for different reasons.

* MissionCreep: At the start of ''Furyborn'', Eliana's main mission is to rescue her mother. By the end, it's to find and kill the Emperor.

* TheUnreveal: Ludivine's angelic name is never stated. Corien even tries to say it at one point but gets cut off by Rielle before he can.

** Rielle tries to repair the fissures in the Gate on her own. Her efforts end with it being more cracked than before.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted twice. The first chapter opens with Rielle lamenting the fact that Sun Queen status doesn't lessen her menstrual cramps. Later on, Eliana starts hers and experiences the cramps that come with it for the first time.

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Corien wants to bring back the angels. To do that, he needs human bodies in order to house each angel and, while that's going on, he wants to subdue or kill the rest. He gets plenty of support from the other angels, though Rielle, of course, needs a lot more convincing.
* OlderThanTheyLook: All the angels are centuries old (or even older) and none of them look a day over twenty.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: In this world, angels are winged humanoid beings with various mental related powers that are separate from the main seven. They existed before humans and are impossible to kill through ordinary means.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Wraiths are angels that were stripped of a physical body. They still retain the powers they had as an angel, though they're far weaker.

* PlotParallel: Much of Rielle and Eliana's plots parallel each other, from the broader strokes (becoming one of the two prophesied Queens) to some minor details (such as each of them having a wraith ally).
* TheProphecy: The last angel to enter the Deep uttered a prophecy stating the rise of a pair of powerful Queens. In Rielle's time, this prophecy has been subject to much dissection and interpretation. In Eliana's time, most people ignore it as mere wishful thinking.

* PowerCrutch: Each human has to craft a casting through which they can channel their abilities. Even the Saints, as strong as they were, needed one. The fact that Rielle ''doesn't'' need one is another mark of how powerful she is. Theoretically, Eliana doesn't need one either, but since her connection to the empirium is much weaker, she makes a casting anyway in order to help better tap into and control her powers.

* PromotionToParent: Since Eliana and Remy's father has been missing for years, Eliana becomes Remy's sole caretaker after their mother is killed.

* RapePillageAndBurn: When Eliana is airing her grievances against Astavar to Navi, she mentions that the Empire's soldiers raped Ventera's civilians, killed the royal family, then burned down agricultural lands and libraries.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Angels can live for hundreds of thousands of years and not look a day over thirty. This holds true for any human body they possess.
* RefusalOfTheCall: While she wants to take down the Empire, Eliana isn't exactly keen about the whole "Sun Queen" deal. She initially refuses to learn how to use her now unleashed powers and she hates being venerated. She does eventually come to terms with her situation but still dislikes being being referred to as the Sun Queen.
* ReligionOfEvil: Fidelia is a cult that worships the return of angels. Because of this, they willingly aid the Undying Emperor in his various experiments and conquests.
* LaResistance: Red Crown is a rebel group whose main goal is fighting back and eventually taking down the Undying Empire. It originally started as push back against Merovec for taking the throne while Audric was still alive.

** In ''Furyborn'', [[spoiler: Ludivine]] appears to die only to arrive at Rielle's crowning completely intact. She later explains that the real [[spoiler: Ludivine]] died of a fever three years ago and she's actually an angel that has been watching over Rielle since birth. Said angel managed to escape the Deep due to cracks in the slowly weakening Gate.

** In ''Lightbringer'', [[spoiler:the Prophet turns out to be Ludivine. She's been orchestrating everything behind the scenes, including Simon's betrayal]].
* RuleOfSeven: There are seven Saints, each one representing one of the seven available elements.
* SaveThisPersonSaveTheWorld: Since Eliana is the one person with the power to defeat the Undying Emperor, Simon does everything in his power to keep her alive, if not safe, and assist her as best as he can.

* SealedEvilInACan: The Gate is a giant, powerful barrier that keeps the angels in the Deep and away from Avitas. On a smaller scale are blightblades, arrows made with cruciata blood that can absorb and conceal wraiths. Wraiths are trapped inside until the blightblade is broken.
* SentientCosmicForce: The empirium is a magical force that everything is made out of. The ability to tap into it is what gives humans their powers. As one of the Queens of Prophecy, Rielle can hear and even request help from the empirium.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Using Simon's ability to travel back in time, Eliana attempts to talk to Rielle in an effort to stop her from joining Corien. Thinking her appearance is a trick by Corien, Rielle attacks Eliana in short order, forcing Eliana to retreat back to her own era.
* ShipperOnDeck: Ludivine has been secretly hoping for Rielle and Audric to get together, as it's quite obvious the two are head over heels for one another.
* SocietyOfImmortals: Angels are a race of immortals who existed long before humans did.
* SpaceMaster: Marques can basically teleport by creating a portal and stepping through it.
* SpecialPersonNormalName: Simon is one of the most important characters in the series, since his time traveling magic is a key component in the Prophet's plan to finally take down Corien. He also has the most normal name out of all of them.
* SpeciesLoyalty: Both humans and angels look down on those that sympathize with the other, to the point that [[HalfHumanHybrid marques]] are their only mutual enemy.
* {{Telepathy}}: All angels and wraiths have the ability to read and communicate through the minds of humans and other angels and wraithsf. %%stopped here

* TimeTravel: One of the solutions to ending the Undying Empire for good is to kill its leader, Corien, before he could create it. In order to do this, Simon has Eliana go back to the Second Age and try to talk Rielle into finishing off Corien. It does not work. [[spoiler:The first time that is.]]
* TraumaCongaLine: At age five, Rielle killed her mother inadvertently. This turned her once loving father against her to the point of being emotionally and verbally abusive. He and her mentor, Taliesin, essentially ignore her wants and desires under the guise of keeping her safe, both her from the public and the public from her. They force her to keep her powers suppressed and hidden from everyone, even her best friends, one of whom is a prince. This blows up in all of their faces when she saves the prince from assassins in a way that winds up killing innocents. The King has her then undergo a series of grueling trials in order to determine if she's the menace her father keeps telling she is. (During this process, one of the Celdarian nobles tires to have her assassinated. She lives, if only through a stroke of luck.) The last trial she ends up doing has her essentially relive the night her mother died. At first, it seems to go [[spoiler:well until Corien takes over various soldier's minds, turning the vicinity into a veritable bloodbath, during which she watches her other best friend get thrown off a cliff. Then it turns out that this friend actually died years ago and the person she's been talking to since the beginning of this whole affair is actually an angel, a being that humans have feared and hated for centuries]]. And all of that is only the beginning.

* WouldHurtAChild: Corien kidnaps children and forces them to be his soldiers. %%flesh out later

* ''Queen of the Blazing Throne'' (ebook, 2020): A novella starring Kirvaya's child-queen; was given a very limited release

* {{Telepathy}}: Every angel has the ability to read and communicate through the mind of both other angels and humans. %%stopped here
* TimeMaster: Marques can travel through time by creating a portal and stepping through it.
* TimeTravel: All marques can use their powers to travel through time. Simon suggests this as a potential solution to Eliana: travel back to Old Celdaria and talk Rielle out of joining Corien, perhaps even kill him.

* TrialByOrdeal: In order to determine whether Rielle is the Blood or Sun Queen, the King of Celderia has Rielle undergo seven trials, one for each element. If she can control her powers and prove her virtuousness, then she will be declared the Sun Queen. If she can't, either the trials will kill her off or she'll be executed. The first trial she goes through, she's thrown onto a mountain and has to use earthshaker powers in order to survive an avalanche.

* UnwantedRescue: After the Queen of Celderia tumbles off a balcony and dies, Rielle manages to resurrect her. Upon being revived, Queen Genoveve weeps, wishing she had been left for dead so she could see her recently deceased husband again.

* {{Telepathy}}: Every angel has the ability to read and communicate through the mind of both other angels and humans.

* TimeTravel: All marques can use their powers to travel through time. Simon suggests this as a potential solution to Eliana: travel back to Old Celdaria and talk Rielle out of joining Corien.
* TraumaCongaLine: Rielle killed her mother without realizing it, which turned her father against her. Said father drugs her and forces her into confinement whenever a storm starts. She's subjected to physically and mentally draining tasks. She ends up killing [[spoiler:not just her own father, but her love and best friend's fathers, one of whom was the King of Celderia]]. Then, she learns one of her best friends is actually [[spoiler:an angel, humanity's worst foe]]. %%Flesh out later
* TrialByOrdeal: In order to determine whether Rielle is the Blood or Sun Queen, King Bastien has Rielle undergo seven trials, one for each element. If she can control her powers and prove her virtuousness, then she will be declared the Sun Queen. If not, then she'll either die in one of the trials or be executed. She gets through four of them successfully until chaos erupts during the fire trial.
* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Rielle, Ludivine and Audric. Rielle is the headstrong, determined heroine and Ludivine is her more gentle but still snarky best friend. They both have known each other and Audric, the nerdy prince, since childhood. Rielle developed feelings for Audric, which he reciprocates, but since Audric's already engaged to Ludivine, they don't really act on their feelings (at least, not at first).
* TwoPartTrilogy: Averted. The series was always intended to be three parts, with each subsequent book adding on to the previous one.
* TheUnreveal: The reader never learns what Ludivine's angelic name was. The other angelic characters get named, even the very minor ones, but not her. Corien even tries to say it at one point but gets cut off by Rielle before he can.
* UnstablePoweredWoman: As Rielle becomes more and more connected to the empirium, her mental state deteriorates.
* UnwantedRescue: After Genoveve tumbles off a balcony and dies, Rielle manages to bring the Queen back to life. Genoveve weeps upon being revived, wishing she had been left for dead so she could see her recently deceased husband again.
* VoidBetweenTheWorlds: The Deep is an empty pocket of nothing that exists between the world of Avitas and other dimensions. Only the truly powerful can enter it and keep their physicality, something even the angels couldn't achieve.
* WasOnceAMan: The Third Age crawlers were once women who had been experimented upon by Fidelia in order to create monstrous soldiers.
* WeaponOfChoice: Each element comes with its own type of weapon, though alternative castings can be made. Non-magical characters who partake in battle also have their own preferences regarding weaponry.
** Windsingers have arrows as their casting.
** Sunspinners have swords as their casting.
** Firebrands have shields.
** Shadowcaster have daggers. Eliana the bounty hunter also prefers knives and daggers.
** Waterworkers have tridents.
** Metalmasters have hammers.
** Earthshakers use a staff.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: In the Prophet's mind, the deaths of thousands of people pale in comparison to bringing an end the Undying Empire.
* WhamLine: In ''Kingsbane'', during the ambush at the Jubilee, Eliana sees Simon standing on the beach when she notices something... off:
--> "He had retrieved his gun and was shouting something at the angels still on the shore. Not in Venteran, nor in the common tongue, [[spoiler:but in one of the angelic languages. [...] Lissar. He was speaking Lissar. And the angels on the shore were listening to him]]."

* WorstWeddingEver: Soon after his coronation, Audric marries Rielle. Everything seems to be going perfectly, and Rielle can't imagine being any happier. Then Corien takes over Ludivine's mind and reveals to the whole assembly exactly what happened to King Bastien. The wedding quickly devolves into chaos, coming to a head when Audric takes Rielle aside to question her about the lies she's told.
* WouldHurtAChild: Corien will use every resource at his disposable, up to and including children.
* WouldntHurtAChild: The main reason Corien is stealing elemental children to use them as soldiers is specifically to weaponize this ideology: he knows that many people would balk at killing a child which gives his army an advantage on the battlefield.
* YouCantFightFate:
** Rielle desperately tries to convince everyone- herself included- that she's the Sun Queen. She eventually realizes that there's no point trying to fight who she is anymore and fully embraces being the Blood Queen.
** Eliana doesn't want to be the long awaited Sun Queen and all that that entails. However, she ''does'' want to end the Undying Empire for good and if embracing her powers is the only way to do it, then she will.
* YouMonster: Remy says this to Eliana upon finding out that she killed [[spoiler: their mother]].

* ForegoneConclusion: There's no attempts made to hide which of the prophesied Queens Rielle and Eliana are. The main questions then become "What events lead to Rielle becoming the Blood Queen?" and "Will Eliana be able to defeat the Undying Emperor?". Additionally, since Eliana refers to Audric as Rielle's husband and that Eliana herself is their daughter, the sexual tension between Audric and Rielle will culminate in their marriage and their making a child.

%% HeelFaceTurn: While she's never bought into the Empire's ideology, Eliana

* HighFantasy: The series takes place in Avitas, a world governed by a magical structure and the various magical beings that live there. Angels were the first sapient, bipedal species to appear. When humans started to arrive on the scene, hostilities emerged, eventually culminating in a giant war. The hostilities felt between these two species permeate even into Eliana's time. Both Rielle and Eliana are tasked with saving their world lest Corien take it over and wipe out humanity.

* RetGone: Once they convince Rielle to go through with killing Corien, [[spoiler: Eliana and Remy from the Third Age disappear, since the circumstances that brought them to the past no longer happened]].

* SealedEvilInACan: The Gate is a giant, powerful barrier that keeps the angels in the Deep and away from Avitas. On a smaller scale are blightblades, arrows that absorb wraiths. Wraiths are trapped inside until the blightblade is broken.

* SpecialPersonNormalName: Simon is one of the most important characters in the series and he has the most normal name out of all the others.

* WhamLine: In ''Kingsbane'', during the ambush at the Jubilee, Eliana notices Simon standing on the beach when she notices something... off:

* YouMonster: Remy says this to Eliana upon finding out that she killed [[spoiler: Rozen]].

* AndIMustScream: Upon entering the Deep, the angels were stripped of their bodies. All of their senses became muted and many of them became far weaker than they were before. Possessing a body doesn't help; no matter how much they eat or drink or how much sex they have, they can never get complete fulfillment or satisfaction from these activities.

* LaResistance: Red Crown is a rebel group whose main goal is fighting back and eventually taking down the Undying Empire. It originally started as push back against Merovec for taking the throne while Audric was still alive.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Though it's more title than literal, the Blood Queen is an ApoclypseMaiden who's appearance will ultimately destroy the world.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Marques are beings that are half-human and half-angel. They're born with wings, but because of the prosocution against them, their wings are usually cut off.

* LoveObstructingParents: Rielle's father and both Ludivine's and Audric's parents don't approve of Rielle and Audric becoming a couple. In Ludivine and Audric's case it's because their parents want to join their families in marriage. In Rielle's case, it's because her father doesn't want her to overshadow Audric's talent or accidentally kill him. %%stopped here

* MercyKill: When one of the crawlers attacking her turns out to be [[spoiler:Rozen]], Eliana kills her, knowing that it's too late to save her mother.

* MissingMom: Rielle's mother died when Rielle was five. Armand believes that Rielle killed her, which caused their once loving relationship to turn sour.

** Eliana goes back in time in an effort to convince Rielle to not join Corien. Not only does she fail, her presence in Old Celdaria changed things for the worse in future-Ventera.
** After being shown what actually happened to his father, Audric confronts Rielle about her lies. Their argument ends with Audric saying that she probably is the Blood Queen that everyone thinks she is. This turns out to be the event that ultimately tips Rielle into joining Corien.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Ludivine looks like she's sixteen when she's actually nineteen. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a [[{{Foreshadowing}} clue]] that the Ludivine we know isn't entirely human.]] All the angels are centuries old (or even older) and none of them look a day over twenty.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: In this world, angels are winged humanoid beings with various powers that are separate from the main seven. They existed before humans and are impossible to kill by ordinary means.

* PromotionToParent: Since Eliana and Remy's father has been missing for years, Eliana becomes Remy's sole caretaker after killing thier mother.

* RefusalOfTheCall: While she wants to take down the Empire, Eliana isn't exactly keen about the whole "Sun Queen" deal. She initially refuses to learn how to use her now unleashed powers and she hates being venerated. She does eventually come to terms with her situation but still dislikes being being reffered to as the Sun Queen.

** In ''Furyborn'', [[spoiler: Ludivine appears to die only to arrive at Rielle's crowning completely intact. She later explains that the real Ludivine died of a fever three years ago and she's actually an angel that has been watching over Rielle since birth. Said angel managed to escape the Deep due to cracks in the slowly weakening Gate]].
** In ''Kingsbane'', [[spoiler: Simon reveals himself to be a double agent for the Empire. Eliana's adoptive father, Ioseph, was taken over by an angel. With the help of Aryava, the Saints tricked the angels into going into the Deep]].

* LaResistance: Red Crown is a rebel group whose main goal is fighting back and eventually taking down the Undying Empire. It originally started as push back against Merovec for taking the throne while Audric still lived.

* SentientCosmicForce: The empirium is a magical force that everything is made out of. The ability to tap into it is what gives humans their powers. As one of the Queens of prophecy, Rielle can hear and even request help from the empirium.

* SpecialPersonNormalName: Simon is one of the most important characters in the series and he has the most realistic name out of all the named characters.

* {{Telepathy}}: Every angel has the ability to read and communicate through the mind, including humans.

* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Rielle, Ludivine and Audric. Rielle is the headstrong, determined heroine and Ludivine is her more gentle but still snarky best friend. They both have known each other and Audric- the nerdy prince- since childhood. Rielle developed feelings for Audric, which he reciprocates, but since Audric's already engaged to Ludivine, they don't really act on their feelings (at least, not at first).

* UnwantedRescue: After Genoveve tumbles off of a balcony and dies, Rielle manages to bring the Queen back to life. Genoveve weeps upon being revived, wishing she had been left for dead so she could see her recently deceased husband again.
* VoidBetweenTheWorlds: The Deep is an empty pocket of nothing that exists between the world of Avitas and other dimensions. Only the truly powerful can enter it and keep their physicality, something the angels couldn't achieve.
* WasOnceAMan: Third Age Crawlers were once women who have been experimented upon by Fidelia in order to create monstrous soldiers.

** Sunspinners, such as Audric, have swords as their casting.

* WildChild: Simon turns into a feral child after spending a year on the desolate mountain he was transported to. He quickly learns how to kill and skin animals in order to keep living.

* WouldntHurtAChild: The main reason Corien is stealing elemental children to use them as soldiers is specifically to weaponize this ideology: he knows that many people would balk at killing a child which gives him an advantage on the battlefield.

* YouMonster: Remy says this to Eliana upon finding out that she [[spoiler: killed Rozen]].

* HowWeGotHere: The prologue shows Rielle giving birth to Eliana and facing down Corien, an encounter that leads to Eliana and Simon being thrust into the future and the empirium being smothered. The narrative then jumps back two years ago to a time before Rielle's powers were even widely known; the rest of her story details how she got to the state she was in during the prologue. %%stopped here
* IAmAMonster: Eliana sees herself as this due to her work as a bounty hunter for the very Empire that took over her home kingdom. This view of herself gets worse after unleashing her powers in catastrophic ways, and finding out that her birth mother was the Blood Queen herself. After some soul searching, she does come to terms with her powers and her self-image improves.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Ludivine suggests partaking in some celebratory drinks after Rielle successfully completes the first trial. Much later on, Rielle damages the Gate even more and the Obex give Rielle the task of finding the Saint's castings on her own. Ingrid offers up a round of drinks, to which Ludivine holds up her hand.

* InMysteriousWays: Taliesin says this word for word about the empirium as a way to dismiss Rielle's concerns that the prophesied Queen's are going to appear soon.
* InstantFanClub: Soon after Ludivine's dramatic entrance during Rielle's anointing, a group calling themselves the House of the Second Sun formed. They're obsessed with Rielle and how she (apparently) brought back Ludivine from the dead. Group activities include reenactments of Ludivine's death, resurrection, and reappearance.
* {{Interquel}}: The events of ''Queen of the Blazing Throne'' run concurrent with what happens in ''Kingsbane''. Some scenes from that book are even shown through Obritsa's perspective.

* KillAllHumans: Angels have this ideology against humans, seeing them as an invasive species that's trying to take over their homeland. They attempted to wipe them out as a result of this.

* LoveObstructingParents: Rielle's father and both Ludivine's and Audric's parents don't approve of Rielle and Audric becoming a couple. In Ludivine and Audric's case it's because their parents want to join their families in marriage. In Rielle's case, it's because her father doesn't want her to overshadow Audric's talent or accidentally kill him.
* TheMagicComesBack: Rielle implies during her explanations to Evyline that this might happen at some point in the future which is why she'll let her daughter and a couple others keep their powers.

* AbusiveParents: Rielle's father, Armand, was once a GoodParents before his wife's (unintentional) death at the hands of Rielle. After this event, he began to treat Rielle incredibly coldly either by ignoring her or not showing her any affection. Growing up, Rielle was constantly reminded by him that she's a "murderer" and dangerous, as well as bringing her to the lower parts of the castle and forcibly drugging her whenever a storm comes through. Rielle believes that he would keep her locked in a room for the rest of her life if he could get away with it.

* AbusiveParents: Rielle's father, Armand, was once a GoodParent before his wife's (unintentional) death at the hands of Rielle. After this event, he began to treat Rielle incredibly coldly either by ignoring her or not showing her any affection. Growing up, Rielle was constantly reminded by him that she's a "murderer" and dangerous, as well as bringing her to the lower parts of the castle and forcibly drugging her whenever a storm comes through. Rielle believes that he would keep her locked in a room for the rest of her life if he could get away with it.

* GoodParent: Rielle's parents were loving and kind before her mother's death. Eliana's parents also cared for her deeply and did what they could to keep her and Remy safe.

** During the Third Age, crawlers are creatures who were originally human but were so experimented upon that they became ferocious monsters. All of them still retain some humanlike features. During the Second Age, they were ice dragons that were also experimented upon so they could use magic.

** There are several hints behind the Prophet's true idenity hidden throughout the series before the ultimate reveal. One of the earliest is the voice that urges Simon to make a portal. It's described as sounding feminine and familiar to him. Since Simon has already met [[spoiler:Ludivine]], it's little wonder that he can recognize it.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Though it's more title than literal, the Blood Queen is an ApoclypseMaiden who's apperence will ultimately destroy the world.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Marques are beings that are half-human and half-angel. They're born with wings, but because of the prosuction against them, their wings are usually cut off.

* AccidentalTimeTravel: Simon uses his marque magic to create a bridge between Celdaria and Borsvall, hoping to hide the newborn Eliana among the Borsvall people. Rielle's final act of magic ends up changing his spell from jumping space to jumping time. This thrusts both him and Eliana 1,000 years into the future.
* AerithAndBob: Most characters have fantastical names, such as Ludivine, Obritsa, Harkan and Corien. Then there's characters with names like Simon and Remy.
* AllYourPowersCombined: The Queens of Prophecy have control over all seven elements. The Sun Queen is a heroic version whereas the Blood Queen is a villainous variant.

** In ''Kingsbane'', Eliana's brief interaction with Rielle altered future-Ventera, including the pasts of various characters and events, and not for the better.

* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler:When Rielle defeats Corien, future-Eliana and Remy disappear since their timeline no longer came to pass. The epilogue only focuses on the aftermath of the battle with Corien, leaving it unclear if Navi, Harkan, and all the other Third Age characters don't exist anymore.]]
* AmplifierArtifact: In ''Kingsbane'', Eliana forges a casting in the hopes that it'll help her tap into the empirium more easily. This doesn't work that well at first, but as she slowly accepts her abilities, she obtains more control over them.
* AnachronicOrder: Each book begins with a prologue that shows what happened to Simon after being separated from Eliana. The first book in particular starts with Rielle's last moments before jumping back two years. The rest of Rielle's story shows what she was like before she became the Blood Queen and exactly how that happened. There is a 1,020 year time difference between Rielle and Eliana's stories, with each chapter alternating between these two eras.

* AndIMustScream: Upon entering the Deep, the angels were stripped of their bodies. All of their senses became muted and many of them became far weaker than they were before. Possessing a body doesn't help: no matter how much they eat or drink or how much sex they have, they can never get complete fulfillment or satisfaction from these activities. Not even extreme pain eases this disconnect.
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: Starting with ''Kingsbane'', other characters get chapters where they're front and center. This includes Corien, Simon, Navi, Ludivine, Jessamyn, Harkan, Audric and Taliesin.
* AnotherDimension: Multiple worlds exist beyond the Deep; one in particular called Hosterah was where the cruciata came from. Eliana glimpses a couple during her trips into the Deep with the Prophet.

* ArrangedMarriage: The Courverie's and Sauvillier's are planning for Audric and Ludivine to be in one, of the "politically advantageous" kind; the two of them are already engaged at the start of the series. Audric and Ludivine have known each other since childhood and are close friends (and cousins), but neither of them are particularly eager to get married: Audric is in love with Rielle and Ludivine doesn't want to come between them. The arrangement eventually breaks down and Audric ends up marrying Rielle.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The series ends with Eliana convincing Rielle to permanently finish off Corien. She ends up killing Ludivine in the process and future-Eliana and Remy disappear since their timeline no longer exists. Rielle still dies in a flash of light, but she manages to leave behind a letter to her daughter that assures her that she love her. And with humanities biggest threat gone, the world is a little safer (at least for now).]]

** In the future, crawlers were creatures who were originally human but were so experimented upon that they became ferocious monsters. All of them still retain some humanlike features. In Rielle's time, they were ice dragons that were also experimented upon so they could potentially use magic.

* BroughtDownToNormal: Queen Rielle's last blast of magic suppresses everyone's tie to the empirium, rendering each elemental powerless. In Eliana's time, the era of elementals is less fact than myth. [[spoiler: In the new timeline, Rielle does this intentionally, only letting three people keep their powers. She implies that this new status quo won't be permanent.]]

* CharacterTitle: Each chapter is named after the featured point of view character. The main books are titled after the nicknames of the last of House Courverie: Eliana the ''Furyborn'' Child, Rielle the ''Kingsbane'', and Audric the ''Lightbringer''.

* ConstructedWorld: The world of [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/empirium/images/6/60/Avitas_World_Map.png/revision/latest?cb=20200126231412 Avitas]] has very different geography [[CaptainObvious and history]] from our own.
* CorruptTheCutie: Corien offers himself as a devout worshiper of Rielle, saying that, unlike the citizen's of Celderia, ''he'' won't look at her in horror. Rielle ultimately finds the temptation of using her incredible powers as she wishes too appealing to deny. This, in addition to being called a monster by Audric, is what pushes Rielle into joining Corien and his cause.

* ADayInTheLimelight: ''Queen of the Blazing Throne'' focuses on Obritsa, a somewhat minor character from the main series. The novella fleshes out Obritsa's backstory, motives and also shows some events from ''Kingsbane'' through her perspective.

* DisappearedDad: Ioseph, Eliana and Remy's father, went to war one day and never returned. It's assumed that he died in battle.

* EncyclopediaExposita: Some of the quotes at the begining of each chapter are taken from an InUniverse historical or academic book. These excerpts are used as a way to expand upon the world of Avitas in further detail without disrupting the overall pacing.
* EndOfAnAge: The end of the Angelic Wars ushered in the Second Age and the fall of elementals is what ushers in the Third Age. Even before Rielle's last spell nulifies all elemental magic, it's stated that magic in general has been on the decline.

* FantasticRacism: There is equal animosity between humans and angels. Angels hate humans because they keep taking land they lived on first. Humans hate angels because the angels keep killing them for reasons out of their control. Both species despise marques because of their half-breed nature and powers over space and time.
* FantasyPantheon: The seven Saints were humans that were each exceptionally gifted in a particular magic. They created the Gate and were the ones that helped end the Angelic Wars. In Rielle's time, temples dedicated to each Saint exist as well as prayers related to that particular saint's magic. (There are also many references to God, but it's unclear if this God is the same or similar to the Christian God/[[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]].)

* FictionalDocument: There are multiple chapters that start off with excerpts from in-universe texts, letters and other such documents. They're used to give the audience a glimpse into what's going on in the background or flesh out the world of Avitas.
* {{Foil}}: Ludivine is a foil to Corien. They both used to be angels who were forced into the Deep by the Saints. Both use their angelic powers in order to achieve their goals, and they both become leaders of powerful organizations. That's where the similarities stop: unlike Corien, who hates humans and can't forgive them for what the Saints did, Ludivine has nothing but love and understanding for humans. As such, she's naturally on the opposing side, and tries to help out where she can, both with Rielle as herself [[spoiler: and Eliana as the Prophet]].
* ForegoneConclusion: There's no attempts made to hide which of the prophesied Queens Rielle and Eliana are. The main questions then become "What events lead to Rielle becoming the Blood Queen?" and "Will Eliana be able to defeat the Undying Emperor?".

** Ludivine actually being three years older than her appearance suggests can be easily dismissed as a minor example of OlderThanTheyLook. [[spoiler:The real Ludivine died at sixteen, with an angel taking over her body. Her physical age will remain the same forever.]]

* FromBadToWorse: For both Rielle and Eliana in ''Kingsbane''. Rielle starts out the book with many dissenters who accuse her of being the Blood Queen and finishes the book [[spoiler:mindlessly killing bodyguards on her way to join Corien]]. In Eliana's case, the mission to travel back in time to stop Rielle was not as easy as Simon had thought and the consequences of her time in Old Celdaria changed several people and past events for the worse. [[spoiler:Then Simon reveals that he's been working for the Undying Empire this whole time and her once thought-to-be deceased father turns out to be the Emperor's Admiral.]]
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: The Blood Queen, though she's not necessarily an actual Queen. It does turn literal after Rielle marries Audric.
* GottaCatchThemAll: In order to restore the Gate, Rielle is tasked with finding all seven of the Saint's castings, the logic being that it's entirely possible that the castings remember how the Gate was made, which will make repairing it more successful. Rielle manages to get three castings before her situation gets infinitely worse.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Marques are beings that are half-human and half-angel.

** In ''Kingsbane'', when it becomes apparent that her newly unleashed powers won't come to her willingly, Eliana believes that this trope is the only way she'll be able to use them in an upcoming mission. She tries to invoke this by deliberately depriving herself of food, foregoing sleep, and just generally not taking care of herself. It works, though in a very destructive way. Thankfully, she no longer needs this trope once she grows more used to her powers and how they work.
* HighFantasy: The series takes place in Avitas, a world governed by a magical structure and the various magical beings that live there. Angels were the first to appear. When humans started to arrive on the scene, hostilities emerged, eventually culmaniting in a giant war. The hostilities felt between these two species permeate even into Eliana's time. Both Rielle and Eliana are tasked with saving their world lest Corien take it over and eventually move on to others.

* HorsebackHeroism: During the annual horse race, Rielle sees a horseless Audric about to be attacked by assassins from an enemy country. Without a second thought, she rides to where he is and uses her powers to stop their assualt.
* HowWeGotHere: The prologue shows Rielle giving birth to Eliana and facing down Corien, an encounter that leads to Eliana and Simon being thrust into the future and the empirium being smothered. We then jump back two years to a time before Rielle's powers were even widely known; the rest of her story details how she got to the state she was shown to be in during the prologue.

''The Empirium Trilogy'' is a series of [[YoungAdultLiterature YA]] {{fantasy}} novels written by Claire Legrand. The series consists of:

* ''Queen of the Blazing Throne'' (2020): A novella starring Obritsa, Kirvaya's child-queen.