The Sins of Silas

Five years before the story opens, Prince Silas races to the Outer Ring of Otacia after reports of arson.

Five years before the story opens, Prince Silas races to the Outer Ring of Otacia after reports of arson. Inside a smoke-blackened cottage, he finds a charred body—what remains of Lena Daelyra, the copper-haired girl he loved in secret, trained in combat, and dreamed of marrying. He weeps over her burned face, kissing her forehead, promising to find her in the afterlife. Back at the castle, King Ulric discovers his son sobbing and calls him pathetic. Silas punches his father. Ulric draws a dagger and slashes his son's cheek, leaving a scar meant to remind him what a disappointment he is. What Silas doesn't know: Lena is a Mage who faked her death with her mother to escape Otacia's kill order. She is alive—and carrying his child.

A seer's cryptic orders launch Lena's quest for Nereida

Weeks after the Otacian army destroyed her Mage village and Silas recognized the lover he'd mourned for five years, Lena—now Supreme of Ames—receives a telepathic message from Kayin, a mysterious seer she hasn't heard from in half a decade. Kayin tells her to reach Nereida, a mythical Mage island beyond the southern coast, and insists the sapphire necklace Lena wears will provide answers. Their group of nine—Mages, Otacian soldiers who defected with Silas, and his wife Erabella—prepares to leave Mount Rozavar's safety. Lena says goodbye to her mother, who begs to join, while Silas quietly promises Minerva he will protect her daughter. The journey south begins with alliances to forge and an entire continent turning hostile.

Vampires attack and Lena spares a creature no one expected mercy

The group treks through a narrow mountain corridor rumored to house Vampires. Decomposing bodies hung with dried flowers confirm the rumors. On the second night, a Vampire rips into Roland's throat while he and Lena are about to kiss. Lena wraps herself in flame and fights back; Silas impales another with his sword. A starving male Vampire named Daris bites Lena's wrist, and she feels both his bloodlust and his terror through the euphoric pull of her blood. Instead of killing him, she lets him drink until satiated, then releases him. Daris promises the Vampires of the pass will remember her kindness. Elowen heals Roland through the night. The flowers, Lena realizes, were mourning wreaths—not threats.

Forsmont's ruler hides pointed ears and demands Silas prove his loyalty In Forsmont, King Leroy greets the group with a dangerous test: kill one of the Mages to earn alliance. Silas refuses. Leroy drops his glamour, revealing pointed ears and pupilless eyes—he is a Warlock, one of over two hundred hiding in…