Desperate to save his people from foreign occupation, Prince Renato Aratorre has resorted to kidnapping in an effort to leverage their freedom. But when he ends up with not a princess but the handsome son of his enemy’s military leader, Ren is determined to discover what the so-called Mathias Grachyov is hiding. And he needs to do it quickly, before the plotting of his family, his court and his enemies undoes everything he’s trying to achieve. Alone in a foreign country and held hostage by a man by whose hand he has repeatedly seen himself die, Mat faces danger on all sides. Not least of which is Ren himself, for the cruel prince would seemingly like nothing more than to ruin him in more ways than one. — A Knife and a Blade is the first book in the Riehse Eshan series, a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers dark fantasy M/M romance.