A kingdom bought. A soul bartered. A queen forged.When Elara of Aethelgard is traded to the cold King Malakor to save her people from starvation, she is told that love is a garden that will eventually bloom. But in the frozen halls of the High Tower, she finds only a gilded cage and a husband who treats devotion like a military conquest.

In a time where reputation is everything and faith is the ultimate law, three lives are about to collide in a scandal that could shatter a community. In the shadows of the cathedral, secrets are the only currency that matters.