“Never make a mistake, Beryl. Never, in your youth or ignorance or arrogance, do something that might endanger your people, that might cause others harm.”

• Elven Prince Eladar Eladar, second son of the Elven King of Riviera, can never atone for his disastrous initial foray into the Lands of Men, but he yet hopes to make his family proud. Before his simple mission to meet Prince Talon of the shattered kingdom of Amontir is done, he saves lives and takes them, finds love, and stands to lose all he holds most dear as he leads Talon’s cousin, Beryl, to sanctuary amongst his people. Caravan guard Alnas is searching for an unconventional love and thinks he’s found it in Hardred, but he must first overcome the former mariner’s tragic past. Neither man dreams their act of kindness in freeing Master Trader Oberas’s snagged cargo vessel will trigger events that alter the fate of their world. The destinies and lives of these men and others become inescapably intertwined with that of Rion, son of a minstrel and a City Guard, in a world about to be consumed by war. Their trials and tragedies, mistakes, and triumphs will either save the world or destroy it.