A princess of fire, a court of snakes, and a destiny written in blood. Once at home on the battlefield, eighteen-year-old Sondra has grown weary of waging war in the name of peace. Disillusioned by the kingdom she's been trained since birth to kill for, Sondra longs for a world free of death and broken hearts. After bad intelligence sees Sondra's men blamed for an unspeakable crime against a defenseless town, she returns home to find her family's power splintering and uncertainty sweeping in like the tide. Court games, however, can not be won by wielding a blade. As Sondra struggles to find her footing in a castle filled with serpents, her only companions are the lord of black fire she betrayed and a farm boy that will never be home in her kingdom of wickedness and ruin. When it's not a happy ending but a crown that becomes Sondra's fate, she may burn the whole world to the ground just to rise from its ashes.