Ariami, the daughter of King Tristan of Sarmenia, has aged apart from what should have been a blessed childhood. Although she despises the riches and royalty of her heritage, she is not prepared for the sudden turn her path takes when King Escea of Emphrada seeks to end the blind betrothal between she and his son through her death. Just as she is forced to go into hiding, however, the Emphradian prince escapes both his title and his father's vicious rule to join mere fortnights later with the girl who knows no hatred-who can see some shred of beauty in every trace of the crumbling world around her. But within years of her disappearance, Ami's strange views of life and death begin to twist into impossible phenomena that cannot be explained merely by her faith, which leaves Escea thirsting for her death-and leaves friends and enemies alike fighting to secure their safety should the public turn against her precariously rising power. For many, the only hope is betrayal...to the Emphradian king himself.