Israh Azizi

The adventure continues in this heart-pounding second installment . . . THE EMPIRE IS CRUMBLING, AND THE FATE OF A KINGDOM RESTS IN THEIR HANDS. Mordon dedicated his life to his father; his only dream was to prove himself worthy of Verin's general. But with the ruthless Tariqin attack comes a brutal awakening. Captured by enemy forces and dragged into a war camp full of the people he was trained to kill, his hopes of proving himself worthy are dashed to pieces. When the enemy offers him a chance for a grand future, he's faced with a test that stretches him beyond his limits. Coralie's burden has never been heavier. After the Dark Lord Prolus's recent assault and her uncle's declining health, it is up to her to keep her kingdom together. The inevitable return of the Tariqin army lurks at their doorstep and her time is running short. Coralie turns to the newest residents of Verintown for assistance. Branded traitors and hated by many in the castle, they may very well be her downfall. Using their pledge for change in her favor, she tasks them with a mission most would consider a death sentence. Two determined warriors separated by a river of blood. Mordon must risk everything to become the man he yearns to be, and Coralie must fight to become the queen she was born to be.

She calls the Empire home. He pledges to bring its downfall. Death is Velamir’s close acquaintance. As a student in the Chishman academy, he cannot escape the brutal war. When he’s sent on a mission with three fellow academy cadets, Velamir returns to the Empire, the land of his birth. Calamity befalls the group as they trek through enemy territory, and Velamir learns a part of his past that makes the mission far more personal. Burdened with the deaths of the unavenged and the chance of losing his own life, Velamir must decide if revenge is worth the cost. Natassa knows her role well: The silent and obedient girl. The one who looks away from the torture her father, the emperor, inflicts on the Empire’s inhabitants. The princess. But she’s a shackled prisoner, and somewhere under the mask is a spark of rebellion. When she learns of her father’s intention to marry her to a man she loathes, Natassa crafts a risky plan of her own—one dangerous enough to get her killed. Two searching hearts. Two perilous paths. Velamir must find the courage to face his past and Natassa must find the strength to face herself before the war consumes them both.