I won’t touch her. But I will torment her soul. While the other warlords mate with the daughters of our enemy, I want nothing to do with these political marriages. Fate calls me north, searching for what the shamans say will complete my soul. An impossible task without more warriors at my command. Then an opportunity arises which I cannot refuse: hundreds of additional Jal’zar to strengthen my warband, allowing me to safely push into freeraider territory. The catch? I must marry a woman. A kiss and a deal later, I take my unruly wife with me into the plains. Anne has a sharp tongue and refuses to submit herself to my rule, rubbing me the right way in all the wrong places. I will never touch her. I will never love her. Anne can never be more to me than the annoying fineprint at the end of a contract - because she is a daughter of the men who killed my family.