The Volodarid dynasty has reigned over the harsh steppes of Rostogov for four strife-ridden generations. Regicide and civil war have become almost as regular an occurrence as the deadly winters that sheath the land in snow and ice for much of the year. Serafima Vladekovna is the latest scion of her line to sit upon the throne in the great fortress city of Dalgorod, but her cousins have yet to set aside their own ambitions. When she is forced to rely...