Cirrus@Austlit

'After years of civil war, the people of The Isles cried, “Peace at any price!” But the price was unimaginable. A mysterious barrier has shut off half a nation.
Now two people plan to reunite The Isles. Felix Skryker – scholar, war-hero, spy - flies through the barrier to Deva, the northern capital, to become Mercia’s unlikely Minister of State Security. Xanthe Chance, fugitive Prisoner of State, searches for the star-gazer who once saved her life. Last of the Chances, heir to fabulous wealth and heretical knowledge, Xanthe is convinced the barrier is linked to Chance secrets.
But Xanthe has also inherited her family’s enemies, and in Deva all too often hopes are dashed, loyalty traded and innocence sold. Xanthe goes astray and is lured to the wrong door; while Skryker, now aware his ministerial responsibilities include that most mediaeval of things – a Prisoner of State – has no idea where she is.
What are the odds they will find each other?
Time… Chance… Hope… What hope? 

Prisoner of State is a novel blending fantasy and realism set in an alternative Britain. Here is a world for readers to escape to: a world of thrilling adventure, with compelling characters, and a cause worth fighting for. And where the stakes couldn’t be higher.'

Source: Author's blurb.