Trauma has a way of echoing. Forever changed by recent events, a young and beautiful courtesan returns to the Peacock Court at a time of great upheaval. Indulgent, erotic, jaded, the Court smothers Luken in fantasy and filth. But Luken is no longer the innocent virgin that first arrived at this gilded prison four years before. Hardened by suffering and loss, Luken wades into the pleasures and degradations of a courtesan's work determined to weather whatever he must in exchange for the wealth that will free him forever from the gendered oppression that dominates the Empire. But Luken has a secret. Juggling his aristocratic clients and love affair with Jes, a penniless servant from a lower branch of a Noble House, poises Luken for disgrace and ruin if his hidden life is uncovered. In a world where men are only valued for their physical traits, Jes may be the only woman that sees Luken as he truly is. But it's his work as a courtesan that promises them the financial freedom to forge a future together, far from the Court. Meanwhile, a heated election charges the capital with political animus, trading newspaper headlines with the tense investigation into the brutal murder of a beloved courtesan - both of which Luken follows obsessively. As the city reaches its boiling point, Luken's own life comes apart at the seams. An escalating series of darkly erotic encounters weighs more heavily on Luken than he had ever expected, and the freedom he so desperately yearns for begins to seem unreachable.Warning: Contains adult content.