Heart of Destiny by Susan Faw

Magic suppressed. Magic exiled. Magic murdered.

During the Great Purge, those openly practicing magic were destroyed and those who could wield it were driven into exile. To keep the peace, the emperor erects a magical barrier isolating the provinces from one another.

When the emperor suddenly dies, his apprentice takes his place.

However, the brazen kidnapping of ten young women shatters the accord, and the councilors of the provinces gather at the Citadel to demand that justice be served.

It is a flame dropped into dry tinder.

Rife with suspicion and hatred, each province accuses its neighbor of treachery, but Emperor Madrid has other plans.

He alone knows who is responsible for the kidnapping of the young women, and he has no intention of sharing that knowledge.

Where magic is involved, there can only be one conqueror.