Weiyona-known to the galaxy as Y-thought she had escaped Lynoch's iron grip forever.
She was wrong.
After the blood-soaked arena where her mother, the rebel Starbreaker Weiyinur, fell to Jardoc's blade, Y vowed to leave the rebellion behind. She wanted only one thing: her Esishan family, the orphanage children and the Directress who raised her. But Lynoch had other plans. The children were abducted, the orphanage burned, and now Y must return to the empire she swore never to touch again.
Kharvox Spire awaits.
So does her grandfather, King Lanileos Mor-the tyrant who once loved his daughter Weiyinur and now sees Weiyona as the last pure thread of his bloodline.
And Metwir, Weiyinur's brother and Weiyona's uncle, now sits on a throne he seized in a ruthless coup, ready to erase the last spark of his sister's dream.
Jardoc-once Ajel, the boy who made a pact with Y under twin moons-has broken from exile. He races toward Lynoch to save Y and the abducted children, knowing that the woman he once loved may now be his enemy.
Atromita holds Vamir's green valleys, the last true heart of the rebellion.
Shineh fortifies Katni's red dunes, ready to turn the moon into a fist against the empire.
As enforcers and the deadly Eskubalon mercenaries close in, Y must navigate a palace of glass cages, secret passages, and family betrayals.
She came for the children.
She may leave with a crown she never wanted-or with nothing at all.
In a galaxy torn between tyranny and freedom, one woman must decide:
reject the blood in her veins,
or claim the throne that could burn everything she loves.