Isonder loved Karina, the Queen of Cravnica, as if she was his own daughter. His only job was to protect her, and he failed. Now his one chance at redemption—and at preserving Karina’s legacy—means traveling into Pashara to rescue her twin sister, Valery. But it’s a quest fit for a hero, and the guilt-ridden guard captain isn’t half the hero he used to be. His guide and only ally is a bounty-hunter with a dark past and an ego almost as vast as the kingdom itself. Braving monsters, bandits, and roving gangs, he prays that the hardships of the journey are worth it for what lies at journey's end: a young woman who might be able to help fill the hole Karina left behind.
Valery’s mother always told her she was destined for greatness. Instead, seduced into a life of crime by a rakish singer, she winds up condemned to serve as a medic in a refugee camp in the war-torn nation of Pashara. The city where she works soon falls under siege, and Valery’s barbed tongue and biting cynicism prove to be poor weapons against the world’s most deadly mercenary army.
On their journey back to Cravnica, the two will face down mad queens, giant centipedes, cannibal warlords, and a dangerous, narcissistic assassin—as well as the painful realization that neither of them is quite the savior the other was hoping for.
