In this prequel to the *The Mortal Fates* series, a young warrior named Thea is tasked with killing the Shadow Prince, a powerful fae ruler, to save her kingdom from a deadly curse. As she infiltrates his court and gets closer to her target, she discovers that the truth about the prince and the war between their realms is far more complicated than she was led to believe. Their initial enmity evolves into a complex alliance as they are forced to confront a greater, shared threat.