The trials are over. The game has only just begun…

I came to Dariu to win a husband—and an empire. I wasn’t prepared for that husband to be so set in his brutal ways, for his people to see our marriage as a bad omen… or for my heart to be aching for three princes I can’t have.

I can’t afford to let any of those problems stop me. My kingdom is counting on me, and all the conquered countries of the empire need my help. I’ll win the respect of every skeptic and enemy, no matter what dangers I have to face.

But when rebellion stirs in one of the outer kingdoms and my husband starts taking out his fury on the men I hold dearest, I’m not sure how much more sacrifice I can bear. To bring about the peace I’ve dreamed of, must I wage my own private war against the man I swore to serve?

Mannn! What a twisted book. I was dead set on this theory through most of the book, but I wasn’t even close to guessing correctly which made the ending way more fire stoking. At the end of book one, I wasn’t sure what I would be in for with this book because there were a lot of twists at the end of the plot, and I wasn’t sure how the characters would reconcile and how the plot would move forward.

I’m not sure why I worried, considering how the plot did move.

At the beginning of this book, Aurelia is not speaking to any of the ‘foster’ princes. She has claimed Marcelius (which I know I’ve spelt wrong) as her husband after winning the trials set in book 1. The emperor Tarquin has left the mortal plain.

I’ll admit that I felt a little lost in terms of Aurelia’s character because with the reveal at the end of book one I felt I had underestimated her, but I also felt like she’d betrayed me somehow for not letting me in on her secrets.

It quickly became apparent to me just how strategic Aurelia is. Not just from what I have seen while reading, but all the hidden hints that have unravelled and become known to the reader.

She has much more resilience than I had given her credit for.

In this book, Raul becomes her biggest supporter. He sees through her act if you will and begins to see her in a new light. He is sort of overjoyed to have found this side of her. His almost instant realisation does a great service to Aurelia’s character, giving her hope and strength at a time she needs it most.

Lorenzo and Bastian take a lot longer to come around. But it’s not entirely Aurelia’s fault. Both these characters carry their own scars and insecurities, and they have to work through those before they can understand her motives, and Chase gives them the chance to do that.

We also see more of Neven, the four ‘foster brother’ prince. We saw him in the first book, but he was not as heavily featured as the other brothers. We see him a little more in this book, firstly through suspicion of his actions, but later as the 4^th of a unified quartet dedicated to bringing down what they see as a tyranny.

I’m not saying that the empire is or isn’t a tyranny. I think it’s more complex than that. It is easy for a rebellion to revolt against an empire who doesn’t have their best interests at heart. It is also easy to be an empire trying to squash a small rebellion that poses a threat to the overall empire. It’s not so much cut and dry as it is a grey area to be handled delicately. I think, Chase is managing to toe the line. Having already finished the Rites of Possession series that is set in the same world, I think I understand more of the dynamics at play here. I might not be able to see all the pieces on the board, but I have more of a sense of what is at stake.

The biggest bombshell of this book came at the end. I read this book during the day, but my dreams were filled with bits of the ending. It really seeped into my mind, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I did have various ideas as to what might be the cause behind the individual involved but compared to the actual reveal, I was thinking small fish!

In my mind, this reveal changes the course of the series. It shocked me enough to take stock of the characters and think about how the plot would develop from here. I’m sure I feel as unfooted as Aurelia does. It changes everything.

I am filled with intrigue as to where the third book will take me.