Ten years after a chilling coup, Aria finds her hopes quashed in a lifestyle she never chose. Closed off and quiet, she's resigned herself to servitude--until a fortuitous set of circumstances send her back to her home realm.Nothing but an instinct drives her to reveal her face to a man determined to kill her, but when he forces her to expose her true identity, the course of her life changes forever.In a kingdom on the brink of civil war, Aria must rediscover the woman she was meant to be--and to take back the seat stolen from her as a child, she must overcome more than her past. The only way to win is by the blade.