Regicide and Parricide – two of the worst crimes imaginable – and Princess Kilbride plans to do both. Widowed at twenty-three, Kilbride has returned to her father’s kingdom of Upper Down, the last realm where the ancient bloodlines of Masters and Makers hold power. Feared by its neighbours, Upper Down has become a safe haven for ferocious bands of Westlanders, who raid and pillage the surrounding kingdoms. Far from trying to expel them, Kilbride’s father permits them to stay. The realm has grown rich off its ill-gotten profits, but it has also grown more violent and isolated. When disaster strikes the kingdom, Kilbride reaches out for allies, but all she has is a spoilt younger sister, a King’s Champion who spends his days drunk, and the manipulative Duke of Ridden. Two sisters, and two brothers – riven apart by mutual loathing and ambition. Squeezed between the Westlanders and a vengeful imperial army, Upper Down edges closer to extinction.

From the dangers of the Forest, to the dangers of the Imperial Court. Following the struggle against the Whalebone King, Princess Safina and the delegation from Upper Down arrive upon the glittering Island of Sanctos – the centre of the Sanctian Empire. With three generations of princes and princesses jostling for power and influence, Saffie finds herself entangled in a web of lies, deceit and murder. Her betrothed Prince Arturo has become the aide to the notorious Francesco, an untameable and debauched prince; while Crown Prince Mikel has taken his own family into the formidable White Tower to be free from the clutches of Emperor Antonio. Falling into this web of clashing rivalries, Walter has one purpose – to buy time for Upper Down to prepare itself for the Emperor’s inevitable rejection of the treaty. The longer he can hold out, the better, but with the myriad temptations on offer in the imperial capital, his worst enemy is himself. Can a friendship forged in the realm of the Whalebone King survive the cynical politics of Sanctos, or will self-preservation and naked ambition corrupt Saffie and Walter’s attempts to save all that they love?

All roads lead to Geathan Against his better judgement, Prince Denny of Sanctos follows Abigone and the survivors of the secret schools to the fertile farmlands and rugged mountains of Geathan. As heir to the lost throne, Denny is a symbol of hope to the Geathian people, who long for their prince to lead them to freedom. Denny wants nothing to do with his inheritance, but others have different ideas, and he is pulled into a struggle where his only choice is to fight or die. On Sanctos, the young Prince Hydar returns from two years of service in the imperial army, in time to witness the most important wedding held in Portonuncia for a generation – that of Prince Francesco and Princess Safina – the joint heirs to the empire. Hydar’s stay in the city will be short, as Emperor Antonio has plans for this troublesome branch of the family – plans that involve removing them from Sanctos and dispatching them to Geathan. Upon the divided and contested soil of Geathan, the two forces will collide, and Abigone’s Masters and Makers will come face to face with the armed might of the Sanctian Empire. For the victors, the prize is Geathan; for the vanquished, the abyss of destruction.