A house of secrets… A killer on the run… An investigator with nothing to lose…
As a massive storm batters the Scottish
Lila Emerson is fascinated by other people's lives.
As a house-sitter, she loves looking after the glamorous homes
Ringil Eskiath, scarred wielder of the kiriath-forged broadsword Ravensfriend, is a man on the run
- from his past & the family who have disowned him, from the slave trade magnates of Trelayne who want him dead, & apparently from the dark gods themselves, who are taking an interest but making no more sense than they ever have. Outlawed & exiled from his ancestral home in the north, Ringil has only one place left to turn
- Yhelteth, city heart of the southern Empire, where perhaps he can seek asylum with the kiriath half-breed Archeth Indamaninarmal, former war comrade & now high-up advisor to the Emperor Jhiral Khimran II. But Archeth Indamaninarmal has problems of her own to contend with, as does her house guest, bodyguard & one time steppe nomad Egar the Dragonbane. & far from gaining the respite he is seeks, Ringil will instead find himself implicated in fresh schemes & doubtful allegiances no safer than those he has left behind. Old enemies are stirring, the old order is rotted through & crumbling, & though no-one yet knows it, the city of Yhelteth is about to explode.