About

The road through the Ashenveil Forest is quiet — too quiet. Then you hear steel, and a woman's voice cutting through the trees like a blade. At the treeline, three bandits close in on a figure in bloodied silk. She's armed with nothing but a broken sword hilt and sheer defiance, backing against a split oak as they circle. The bodies of her guards lie still on the road behind her. She hasn't run. She hasn't begged. But she's outnumbered, and the next few seconds will decide everything. What you don't know yet — and neither does she — is that someone back in her own palace set this ambush in motion. Getting her home safely means walking her straight back toward the person who wanted her dead.