To secure peace, he must first rally the kingdom for war … The dust of betrayal has barely settled, and the threat of war from neighboring Mirdon looms larger than ever. Oren must unite the nobility of Westmere to fight the enemy and get them to trust his lead—or he might face a war within his borders and an invasion. But snow will hold the mountain passes closed and the kingdom secure until spring. Oren has earned the respect and loyalty of unruly men before, when he served as Captain of the Mountain Guard, and he can do it again. When he strikes a bold move against his greatest rival, Oren discovers no one is as they seem. The truth he has built his life on shatters, and in the aftermath, he needs to find answers to questions he had never asked himself. If he fails, a chain of events years in the making will drown the kingdom in fire and blood. Alliances break, and new enemies show their hand. How will Oren protect his people when he can't anticipate the next attack?