Carissa Darnell lost almost everything in the Conquest. Left the sole heir and rightful Queen of Basium following the slaughter of her family, she hungers for vengeance against the Warmonger, who took it all from her. A puppet monarch, she hides a dark and dangerous magic, one that her grandmother Miriam believes she can weaponise against the enemy. Jacen Morrow is the son of the Warmonger, King Cobryn Morrow of Genera. In the wake of the Darnell family massacre, he married Carissa to keep a hold over her country. He returns to Basium after years spent fighting a civil war back home, but not everyone is accepting of his position as King—least of all his powerful uncle Deacon, who held Basium with an iron fist in Jacen’s absence, and whose ambition is near insatiable. Along with Carissa’s best friends, Jacen’s sister Vida and feisty heiress Bellona Lenore, the unhappily married couple must work together to save Basium. For resistance rises in the north, and if Jacen and Carissa cannot stop it, war will once again engulf the country—and it could mean the destruction of everything they hold dear.

Carissa Darnell has embraced her destiny as a Maleficium. Reeling from a shocking tragedy and uncertain who to trust, she is forced to seize a chance at freedom. If she is to prove herself a powerful Queen, she must show she rules with her head and not her heart—even if it could cost her the man she loves. Jacen Morrow walks a fine line between love and loyalty, unable to choose between his family and his wife. As the clock ticks down to the birth of his son and heir, Jacen must discover just how far he is willing to go and what boundaries he will cross to make the ultimate decision—one there is no turning back from. Sebastian Darnell seeks vengeance, and he is adamant on destroying all of the Morrows once and for all. His advisors have a more daring goal in mind, one that relies upon pitting the Darnell siblings against each other to prove that Sebastian has the stronger claim. What does he want more—a throne, or the sister he thought he’d never see again?

Carissa Darnell has been taken prisoner by her deadliest enemy, Deacon Morrow. Forced to play his insidious games, she knows one wrong move could get her killed. As the darkest aspects of her magic are revealed, Carissa wonders what the price of escape will be—and who she will be once she does. Sebastian Darnell has been crowned in his sister’s absence, but his most loyal supporters will stop at nothing to secure his claim. Basium threatens to become a battleground once more as tensions run high between Sebastian and the formidable Bellona Lenore, Lady of Theron and guardian of Zephyr Morrow, Sebastian’s nephew. Lilith Marwan is a woman with a vision—the end of the Morrow empire. Fully committed to the rebellion in Harith, she is joined by an unlikely ally whose presence will change the game as they know it. The time of uncertainty is over. As war looms over the continent of Razmara, the battle lines are being drawn. The only question is who will be left standing when the dust settles, and whether a better or worse world will rise in its wake.