the premise

What if Napoleon Bonaparte had successfully invaded England? Only it wasn't England, but a country more wild and beautiful and secretive. And what if Napoleon was no ordinary general, but a mage with powers to curse the land, manipulate the seasons and beguile the people?

His name was Lothaire, an immortal, and he came with darkness and blood to slaughter the Parliament of Mages. For centuries he drained the power and beauty from the mountains, the forests, the fields, even the people themselves. His redcoats ruled each town and village like small kingdoms, each regiment a tyrant, each peasant a victim. None could withstand him.

Until a peasant girl, a highwayman and a brooding hermit took shelter in a long-abandoned, cavernous castle called Broughton Keep.