The fight for alliance has just begun. Scarred and shaken by months of imprisonment, Princess Cistine Novacek takes the newest battlefield before her: Valgard's treacherous political landscape. With her cabal at her side, she faces the daunting task of healing from her trauma and securing the treaty her kingdom needs...while in the shadows, sinister threats arise. A kingdom away, Ashe and Maleck walk a tenuous line. It's dangerous enough convincing Mahasar's Mad King of a treaty that doesn't yet exist - harder still while battling their own specters and the disastrous attraction growing between them. The future of both kingdoms rests in the hands of two warriors who were once sworn enemies; if they can't learn to be something more, together and apart, war may come before Cistine fulfills her mission. Alliances shift. Old and new enemies storm the gates. Healing comes at a cost. And with their own fears threatening everything they hold sacred, the cabal must learn how to trust one another with an unshakable faith. Nothing less will survive the coming storm.