Amran is double-bad-luck: mixed race and transgender. But he's also a poet, and his poems have gone where he couldn't, and garnered fame he never expected. When Ralah University, the most prestigious institute of learning in the Qin Empire, offers to bring him out to do a reading of his poetry, Amran is faced with a choice: does he ignore the summons, or take them up on their offer? And if he does return to the Empire, this homeland that never wanted him in the first place, what is he really returning there to do?

Ariah's magical training has been interrupted. Forced to rely on a mentor, Dirva, who is not who he claims to be, and a teacher who is foreign and powerful, Ariah is drawn into a culture wholly different from the elven one that raised him. As his friendship with Dirva's brother blossoms into a surprising romance, and he slowly learns how to control the dangerous magic in his blood, life finally appears to be coming together for Ariah—but love and security are cut short by a tyrannical military empire bent on expanding its borders. War, betrayal, passion, and confusion follow Ariah as his perilous journey leads him beyond the walls of the Empire, and into unfamiliar territory within himself. Along the way, he’ll discover just how much he’s willing to give up to find his place in the world, and he’ll learn what it means to sacrifice himself for freedom—and for love.

Ariah's abduction throws everything into chaos. What are Sorcha and Shayat willing to sacrifice to get him back? How does their story change? What do they mean to each other now that he is not there to intercede?

All Sorcha and Shayat know about Ma-Halad is that Ariah might be there. They walk through the tall gold grass with a skeleton of a plan, a handful of food, and lies on their tongues. But Ma-Halad is ruled by The Butcher of the East, an ambitious general facing down impossible orders from the Emperor himseld. Sorcha and Shayat are marked the second they appear in town. Ferreting out Ariah under The Butcher's watchful eye will be no easy task.