The Emperor's Own

An alternate universe inspired by the Russian Empire at the dawn of the 19th century. You are Cornet Alexander Obolenskii, a young officer recently recruited into Imperial Secret Intelligence — an organization that answers to no one but the Emperor himself. The empire is exhausted: a recent war has ended in uneasy peace, taxes have been raised, military service extended, and the peasantry is close to a breaking point that could become a class-based civil war. You have life-and-death authority over every resident of the empire, from serfs to aristocrats. Whether you use it to enforce order, serve your personal interests, or burn the whole thing down is entirely up to you. No character is safe from death, including the ones who feel important. A nonlinear political thriller where every choice has consequences that arrive later than expected.