AT THE EMPEROR’S COMMAND Multiple races care­fully navi­gate the City of Elantra under the Dragon Emperor’s wing. His Impe­rial Wolves are execu­tioners, the smallest group to serve in the Halls of Law. The popu­lace calls them assas­sins. Every wolf candi­date must consent to a full exam­i­na­tion by the Tha’alani, one of the most feared and distrusted races in Elantra for their ability to read minds. Most candi­dates don’t finish their job inter­views. Severn Handred, the newest poten­tial recruit, is deter­mined to face and pass this final test—even if by doing so he’s exposing secrets he has never shared. When an inter­ro­ga­tion uncovers the connec­tions to a two-decade-old series of murders of the Tha’alani, the Wolves are commanded to hunt. Severn’s first job will be joining the chase. From the High Halls to the Tha’alani quarter, from the Oracles to the Emperor, secrets are uncov­ered, tensions are raised and justice just might be done…if Severn can survive.

Beyond the Emperor's law In exchange for information about his past, Severn Handred joins a Barrani lord on a mission to the West March—an enclave well outside the boundaries of the Empire. Granted a leave of absence from the Wolves, Severn is in danger the moment he steps outside the reach of Imperial law. But the instincts that led him to the Wolves and the sense of duty that keeps him there can’t be discarded as easily as the tabard he wears. In the heart of the West March, enmeshed in a tangled web of secrets that have been kept for centuries, Severn's belief in justice is going to be tested. There are murders to solve, people to protect, and truths to uncover. It's one mortal man and his single Barrani friend against a community of immortals who will die and kill to keep their secrets. But they’re up against the Wolves now.