Castle Rehm is a forgotten corner of the kingdom, where the locals spend most of their time drinking and avoiding the snow that plagues them most of the year. It's quiet, boring, and nothing at all like the bustling city where Kohar grew up. He has no problem with that, however, and in fact mostly enjoys his job as Mage-in-Residence for the most boring territory in the world. What he does have problems with are the resident Captain of the Guard, who drives him crazy on a daily basis, and Solla, whom Kohar desperately wishes would notice him but has always remained oblivious. But then people start turning up dead, and all thoughts of aggravating soldiers and oblivious mercenaries must be set aside in the face of demonic attack and a traitor in their midst…

Years ago, Bedros was the right hand lackey to a cruel prince who became a crueler king. He's not proud of the role he played in that cruelty, but those days are well behind him. All he wants now is to take care of Castle Rehm, and enjoy the peace and quiet that comes from being a despised outcast. That peace is shattered when the very last person he expected to ever see again arrives with dire news: that the king wants a war, and he is going to engineer the slaughter of Bedros and his people in order to get it. Bedros has very little time to prepare to face the royal army and all the force it can bring to bear, but he'll do everything he can—include cooperate with a man who despises him, whose life Bedros once saved at the cost of everything he once thought he held dear.