Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.

Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire's capital - her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village's tithe has been the same woman. Gilene's sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses. But this year is different. Azarion, the Empire's most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion - and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery.

Afflicted by a centuries-old curse, a warlord slowly surrenders his humanity and descends toward madness. Ballard of Ketach Tor holds no hope of escaping his fate until his son returns home one day, accompanied by a woman of incomparable beauty. His family believes her arrival may herald Ballard’s salvation...until they confront her elder sister.

In an isolated fortress, the Master of Crows battles an ancient god for possession of his soul. Renegade and heretic, he dreams of ways to defeat the god and destroy the priesthood who would execute him. Sent by her masters to betray him, a woman comes who possesses a weapon he can use to triumph over both, but only with the ultimate sacrifice. A tale of love and allegiance.

Owned by a ruthless Assassin Lord, Scarlett Monrhoe and her two sisters have been trained since they were children to torture and take life. They are the most feared trio on the continent, but they are also wild and unpredictable. A tragic night has Scarlett finding herself locked away in a noble's household, trapped and forgotten, until she's ready to fall into line.