For Generations, the forest kingdom of Riocht has teetered on the knife's edge of ruin. Old rivalries smolder hot beneath the surface and only King Kennis' lifetime of vigilance has kept the countless sparks of civil war from bursting into flame. Now, after years of blood, sacrifice, and tenuous alliances, unity is finally within sight.
Until disaster strikes from where he least expects it.
Prince Tiarnard-his only heir and Riocht's best hope for peace-has fled the kingdom, chasing freedom in the distant Land of Fiaine. In Riocht, it is a place of dread, named in whispers as the Land of Shadow and Death. But to Tiarnard, it promises escape: from the grief of a shattered childhood, and from the crown that he has come to despise.
But there is a darkness looming deeper than the threat of civil war, and a malice at work far beyond what Riocht has ever imagined. As Tiarnard is drawn ever deeper into a world that he does not understand, he may find that the path he walks is not his own. As the final shadow begins to close around Riocht and its prince, it becomes clear that there is only one who can lead the realm to lasting peace. And there is nothing he's ever wanted less.