Edward sought a future of honor and hope, but only got murder and mayhem.

He came to the Empire of Makhaira to join the Imperial Guard, who admit only the best. Instead, he pledges his sword—and his life—to an innkeeper rather than the emperor.

In a land known for intricate plots and ancestral enmities, the empire’s corruption seeks to end his life with knives in the night and hidden treachery. And he must face these blades while memories of a father slain, a king defied, and oaths broken threaten his soul.

Can he find the one bringing schism, death, and hate before that steel tastes his blood? Or will be just another who came to the empire to lose everything?