The Mage King of Avonbend is meant to be untouchable. With his throne balanced on the precipice of the human and fairy world, Dante is the sworn protector of the Talamherra he knows from the Talamherra he doesn't. But he cannot help feeling that the formidable Fairy Queen who lurks beyond the ruins and rivers of Avonbend's borderlands is not truly the threat that human legends describe her to be. When he finds himself in need of a favor, he dares to ask for her generosity, in hopes of saving his own people from a mysterious blight. The Fairy Queen questions why the Mage King would not turn to his own allies in such a time of uncertainty, but she is never one to stay in the dark for long, and is eager to lure this ambitious king into the shadows of her dominion. When a rivalry blooms from her refusal to aid him, enflamed by his desperation for victory against her, the Fairy Queen offers up a different path: one that leads to a truth that Dante is not yet prepared to unveil. The webs of secrets, oaths, and intrigue that await Dante in Fairyland are all at the mysterious queen's fingertips... and now, to his bewilderment, so is he. Dante knows one ruler will have to yield to another eventually, but perhaps it will not be the enemy they expect... and the fates that await them are more intertwined than he ever dared to imagine.