On the morning of his wedding, eighteen-year-old Kalo Westerly finds himself standing before an altar, ready to pledge his undying love to the girl of his dreams. Princess Rosalie, his beloved bride, was not a prize easily won. Seven months prior, she'd been kidnapped by the Blood Bandits, a murderous group who would've killed the princess if Kalo hadn't rescued her first. Battling giant sand-worms, braving a precipitous canyon, surviving a poisonous viper's venom, and dueling the Blood Bandits themselves-such obstacles couldn't stop Kalo from protecting his soulmate. Having endured so much, doesn't the young couple deserve a happy ending? Alas, as the guests in attendance soon discover, Kalo and Rosalie's wedding is fated to be a rather dreadful affair. Revengeful Carissa, the sole living member of the Blood Bandits, has taken it upon herself to don a disguise and crash the party. Believe it or not, she isn't there for the cake. No, her singular purpose is to make Princess Rosalie a widow. Before the ceremonial wedding dances culminate, Carissa's knives are red to the hilt, stained with the blood of her victims. Who does she slay? What adventures await the survivors in the years ahead? In this tragic tale spanning kingdoms, arid deserts, frozen plains, and dark forests, nothing is as it seems. Mysteries abound, dangers lurk in every shadow, and survival is a luxury that not even the Keemja Desert's Royal Family can afford.