Zahira is a woman of the conquered Rua people, their country occupied by another, different culture - the Sedorne. Zahira is an orphan and has been raised to despise and distrust the occupying population. But everything changes for Zahira when her home and foster family are destroyed and she finds out some shocking truths about her real family.
Darkness has fallen across a kingdom far, far away. The queen is dead - killed in the forest by a terrifying beast - and her daughter, Alexandra, suspects that the new woman in her father's life is more than she seems. Exiled and betrayed, Alexandra must face magic, murder and the loss of all she holds dear in a desperate struggle against evil.