LEAH INDASELY, daughter of the First House, expects to wed an old friend of equal rank. Instead, the king makes her a decoy to find an insurgent out to stage a coup, and arranges Leah's cover-marriage to an aloof army captain. Leah plans to return home when her assignment is finished, the marriage annulled. Driven by desire to earn status, not have it handed to him, JEREN VASSAL reluctantly joins his high-born bride at the altar, knowing marriage is necessary to his new commission. Yet Leah, full of grace and intelligence, sparks thoughts of home and family, a life beyond that of a soldier. Now an old enemy threatens to rise again. Questions of loyalty force Leah and Jeren to unite, to find a solution to the disappearance of the realm's dragons, and pacify a vengeful neighboring culture. First they must find the source of unrest inside their kingdom, and despite offering their honor on false pretense, they begin an unexpected slide toward love.