Torn from her mother's arms at eighteen and molded into the perfect servant by a merciless academy, Avyn Ashwood now serves a crown built on blood and darkness. Every day is a hollow march of duty, that is, until the prince returns from battle, his victory trailed by shadows that follow him through the halls and into her thoughts. Pulled beyond the life she knew, she uncovers a hidden world of ancient creatures, buried histories, and a mysterious voice that whispers from just beyond her reach. With every secret revealed, the boundary between rules and desire begins to fray. Hunted by the attention of the very many she's forbidden to want, she must choose between the safety of obedience and the dangerous truth stirring within her, because some secrets refuse to stay buried, and some hearts were never meant to be bound.