The Cursed Cadet: A Guardian-Oath Romantasy (Skybound Oaths)

War College admits adults only—useful, since the curse threaded through Kestrel Rooke’s bones has very adult appetites. By sunset on Day One she’s bonded Vespera, a dragon she isn’t sure she deserves, woken a hunger she can barely cage, and been handed a guardian she didn’t ask for: Lord Ashren Veyr, enemy crown prince, treaty-bound to keep her alive. He stands like a blade, argues like a footnote, and keeps promises like they taste of iron. The academy runs on strategy, sabotage, and “assassination practicals.” Library detention is absolutely a date—if you file the right form. And when the mark on Kestrel’s wrist flares at the cut of Ashren’s blood, the academy’s favorite rumor—marked mates—becomes the one thing they’re forbidden to be. Beneath the arena, a sleeping ward stirs and wants a sacrifice. In their cohort, a traitor reaches for the eyrie—and for the power in Kestrel’s bond. To keep her squad breathing, Kestrel and Ashren invent a better oath: consent as magic, boundary as shield. Stop / Not Yet / No / Name / With me / Hold fast. Pain shared, power doubled. Desire negotiated, never assumed. To win a city that refuses to be tamed, they’ll have to pass exams designed to kill, out-sing a conspiracy turning living wards into obedient nouns, and decide if love is a liability—or the only law worth breaking. He would burn a kingdom before he lets her fall. She will not be anyone’s key. Adult romantasy (18+): slow burn → high heat; explicit consent; enemies-to-lovers; forced-proximity guardian oath; dragon riders; assassination academy; found family; morally gray MMC; city-as-character.