(The second installment in the Sixth Cycle series) Eighteen years after the events of Lastborn, Amandar is a very different place. Ayuma is the Protector-Queen of Makeda, Corran is restored to his rightful rule over Ephola, and the daughter of Donovan Brennan is his heir to the throne. The old tension between Makeda and Ephola is only a tragic memory. Or is it? Lupine Brennan has a heavy burden on her shoulders. Raised in the Royal Palace from the age of ten, her life is a constant battle to reconcile the new realities in Ephola with her father's passionate idealism, a task made all the more difficult in light of her heritage. Will the new Ephola accept a Makedan as their queen? Or do old demons of prejudice--both metaphorical and literal--still lurk in the shadows of Illwen, waiting for their opportunity to rise up anew? When Lupine is tormented by horrible nightmares, she begins to unearth Ephola's dark history, just as a tragic chain of events unleashes chaos in Ephola's capital, and leaves the nation teetering on the brink of civil war. As Lupine and her friends fight to stay one step ahead of their enemies, Lupine is forced to make a life-altering choice. Though her family and her friends would do anything to protect her from the sacrifice and heartbreak they knew two decades earlier, Lupine knows she has a responsibility to her adopted home. She embarks on a harrowing journey to liberate Ephola, and in the process, stumbles upon an even deeper mystery, one that could threaten the story they've all been told about the Orandi, and what is truly threatening their world.