Like refugees of silent wars we step on ever-shifting ground
promoting what we undermine
For countless days we walked alone directionless and vulnerable,
sitting targets wearing smiles
No one of us will go unscathed by private battles we have braved.
A vicious circle have we build constructed from our shame and guilt.
— Anthem, Tom Shearer, Assemblage 23
Laarens is alone in the world. Rien is dead, Savrin has become fully Mathes’ puppet. Laarens may be the only remaining Ascendar, but he knows his life is cheap and getting cheaper.
At least, that’s what Rien needs Laarens to believe. She’s gambling both their lives on the lie that the two bodies found in her burnt office were Avah’s and her own. Avah is dead, but Rien has barely escaped with her life.
Nine years before, at Rien’s Elevation, Quin Tiwendar swore his life to Rien’s service, then vanished. Now, reluctantly reunited with his liege, Quin and his partners offer Rien temporary shelter.
But if Galantier is to survive, everyone must understand the commitments they have made to one another and the land of their birth.
For sale at —