Secrets are uncovered. Gods interfere with the fates. A vicious darkness slithers out of the shadows. The drums of war start to shake the land of Ahland.
Sent running north, Maude and her friends try to regroup alongside new allies after their failed assassination attempts in Logi. In their defeat, their enemy-King Harald Helvig of the Kingdom of Flame-gained the power he needed to rule over all Ahland leaving them more hopeless than ever. Unsure of their next steps, they linger in the sanctuary that has been provided for them until distressing news reaches them. Throwing caution to the wind, Maude takes what she's discovered about herself and uses it to free the only man she's ever loved from imprisonment.
Herrick has nothing to do but spend his dark days agonizing over his failures-as a brother, as a General, and as a friend. The spark that has entered his life in the form of a fiery, short-tempered woman has changed not only the way he sees the world, but how he responds to it. She has awakened something that has lived in him for years but was never allowed to see the light of day. After living through what he has faced in the wake of his failures and the chains that still bind him, it might just be enough to let that darkness out.
Still reeling from the catastrophic mistakes made and friends lost, there is little hope left in all of them... until their collective fates bring them head to head with the ugly truth behind that greater power that is supposed to guide them in life.
In the highly anticipated sequel to Kingdom of Embers and Ruin, follow Maude and Herrick as they discover there was always more to their entwined fates than just their undeniable attraction. Will it strengthen them or fray the threads of their lives until both are unrecognizable?