Spy, manipulator, traitor... He might be her only salvation.ady Seliah Phel canβt escape feeling like sheβs one of those fairytale princesses awakened from a long slumberβexcept that her life is no romantic story and thereβs no happy ending in sight. Though she has her magic and sheβs been rescued from the depths of madness that consumed her since adolescence, Selly finds that the years she lost arenβt so easily recovered. Everyone treats her like the child they remember. To prove somethingβperhaps only to herselfβsheβs recklessly volunteered to stave off a host of monsters with only the enigmatically alluring, cuttingly sarcastic, and probably deceitful wizard Jadren El-Adrel for company.
Jadren isnβt the heroic type. In fact, heβs not much of anything. Relentlessly groomed into a shadow of a man by his sadistic mother, heβs the perfect spy and tool, with no real will of his own. When heβs stranded in the wilderness with Seliah Phel, he figures the outcome is immaterial. Live or die, itβs all the same to him. But Seliah is a different story and she isnβt like anyone else. Though he reminds himself sheβs basically a child in a womanβs body, he finds it increasingly difficult to resist her artless charms and relentless curiosity.
As their predicament goes from dire to disastrous, Jadren realizes his many failures have jeopardized Sellyβs future, perhaps her very life. Far from home and trapped without resources, Selly has only Jadren to rely uponβthe one person she canβt possibly trust. There seems no possibility of rescue from their friends and family back home at House Phel, so Jadren and Selly must work together to survive... if they can.