Now the family has been shattered. King Olin Eddon is a prisoner in a
faraway land. Olin's heir Kendrick is dead -- slain by treachery and
dark, bloody magic -- and Kendrick's younger brother and sister have
barely escaped several attempts on their own lives. With their father
and brother taken from them, the royal twins Barrick and Briony have
done their best to hold the kingdom together. Old magics are stirring
beneath the ancient castle and behind the Shadowline, and the
machinations of gods, fairies, and mortals threaten to spread
devastation across the entire world. Even if Barrick and Briony survive
learning the astonishing truths at the heart of their own family and of
Southmarch itself, they must still find a way to do the impossible: they
must reclaim their kingdom and rescue their home and people from a
multitude of powerful enemies -- from traitors, tyrants, a god-king, and
even the angry gods themselves.