Therez Zhalina is the daughter of one of Melnek’s most prominent merchants. Hers is a life of wealth and privilege, and she knows her duty—to marry well and to the family’s advantage. But when Therez meets the much older man her father chose, she realizes he is far crueler than her father could ever be.She decides to run. This choice will change her life forever.Therez changes her name to Ilse and buys passage with a caravan bound for distant cities... moreTherez Zhalina is the daughter of one of Melnek’s most prominent merchants. Hers is a life of wealth and privilege, and she knows her duty—to marry well and to the family’s advantage. But when Therez meets the much older man her father chose, she realizes he is far crueler than her father could ever be.She decides to run. This choice will change her life forever.Therez changes her name to Ilse and buys passage with a caravan bound for distant cities. Her flight leads her to Lord Raul Kosenmark, once a councilor of the old king and now master of a famous pleasure house. But feasts and courtesans are only the outermost illusion in this house of secrets, and Ilse soon discovers a world of magic and political intrigue beyond anything she had imagined. less
#1