Ingolf von Dirchs is all that remains of the once proud royal family of Kria. The bastard son of the dead kaiser, he barely escapes the winter palace before it is overtaken by the armies of Salhara, Kria's oldest and bitterest enemy. In a last desperate attempt to combat Salhara's deadly magic, Ingolf flees to the country of Illussor, there to steal the sword of a man who once betrayed Kria and left them forever without one of their four sacred armies.Stealing the sword gains him something he did not expect-the descendant of that long ago Betrayer, an intriguing man with the pale features of an Illussor and the fierce heart of a Krian...Erich von Adolwulf is the proud descendant of the Holy General, a man who helped Illussor break free of the loathsome magic upon which they once so heavily relied. When the sword of the Holy General is stolen, Erich goes to reclaim it, refusing to let the sword remain in enemy hands.Instead of a bitter enemy, however, he finds a tenuous Kaiser he wants desperately to protect, a man who makes him feel things he thought buried with his late husband-and dragged into a war fighting for the country his ancestor once betrayed.