THE TRUCE THAT WILL EITHER SAVE THEM—OR BURY THEM ALIVE. The Veyne dynasty rules with blades and terror. The Larents, once revered monarchs, now cling to survival in the shadows. A decade of war has left the empire fractured, its streets running red with vengeance—until a forced marriage becomes the only thread holding the peace together. Caius Veyne is a conqueror carved from ice and violence. As the empire’s most feared warlord, he’s slaughtered armies, crushed rebellions, and sealed his legacy in blood. But when his father, the Emperor, orders him to wed Alara Larent, the last surviving heir of the fallen royal line, Caius obeys—not for duty, but for the chance to break his enemy from the inside. Alara Larents would rather bathe in Veyne blood than share a bed with one. Stripped of her crown, her family, and her dignity, she’s spent years plotting revenge in the underworld’s darkest corners. The marriage is a trap, a knife disguised as a truce. Yet when the ceremony binds her to Caius, she discovers a dangerous truth: her husband is as much a prisoner as she is.