Branded a heartless and cruel sovereign, Emperor Herace of the Tevente Empire has lost three empresses to betrayal and murder. Into his life steps Eleanor Snow, the fearless daughter of House Snow, offering herself as his new empress to protect her family from ruin. In a world of assassins, treachery, and political unrest, their alliance is forged out of necessity but eventually tempered by trust. Together, they will fight to defend the empire... and each other.