"I guess we all have our ghosts, don't we?" Arra almost stopped walking, but forced her feet to move. "Indeed, we do." With Prince Kyrith Nefion returned and a plot thwarted thanks to Arra Enryn's treason, North Akadon now finds itself plagued with shadows. A rising threat of shades and daemons-once a rarity in the North-means perfection is expected for the royals, a family whose fragile bonds are already under strain. Kyrith struggles to reconcile the past with his present. The lines between Solris Maisym's duty as Kyrith's guard and his feelings are becoming blurred. Even with his typical drunken avoidance, Ezran Breckhym keeps finding cracks in his family that threaten everything. Arra must tread uncertain ground, earning trust from the very people she was tasked with killing. Each must bear the weight of their legacies while they battle nightmarish creatures and figure out the Southern King's next move-before Nefion blood spills.