Two men two empires Jaibriol ruled the Eubian Concord over two trillion people across more than a thousand worlds & habitats Kelric ruled the Skolian Imperialate War had come before-ten years ago Jaibriol had lost his parents in the final battle of the Radiance War between the Concord & the Imperialate-and it might come again devastating vast swathes of the galaxy Neither Jaibriol nor Kelric wanted war but neither was complete master of his realm & each hid a secret that if revealed might be his downfall Jaibriol was a secret psion with telepathic abilities & to be a psion in the Eubian Concord was to be a contemptible slave eventually to be tortured for the pleasure of the slave&s owner Kelric years ago had disappeared for nearly two decades He had been a prisoner & slave on the planet Coban part of neither empire until he had managed to escape & if the Skolian Imperialate knew of his captivity there would be demands for vengeance ravaging Coban-and killing the wife & children Kelric had left behind when he escaped Neither man knew how much longer he could keep his secret-nor how much longer they could hold back the threat of a war that could incinerate hundreds of inhabited worlds