"They called her a pawn. She will make herself a queen."

Banished since birth, Tres of Draherne grew up in exile, hidden away in a cottage with her Aunt. When the crown finally summons her home, she dares to hope her parents have changed—that at last she is wanted.

But their embrace is a mask. Their smiles, a lie. Tres has not been reclaimed as a daughter—she has been sold as a bride.

Her groom is King Vityior of Hargesia, a man feared across kingdoms as the Blood Butcher. They say his power can shatter armies with a gesture. They say his brides never survive the week.

To Draherne, she is salvation. To her parents, she is a pawn. To herself, she is already condemned.

Yet in the shadows of dread, Tres finds something unexpected in her monstrous husband: not cruelty, but scars as deep as her own. And as war looms on every horizon, the girl once forgotten must choose—bow to the fate that would see her broken, or claim her power, her heart, and perhaps even her throne.