For a wedding gift to Titus, Azhura decides to solve the mystery of his father's murder. She assigns her slave Izana and Modius to use their particular skills to figure out what happened. When Titus suffers the effects of the same poison their search for a cure--and culprit--becomes urgent.

As usual, the political machinations were what kept me interested. Azhura and Izana's people, the Alpirions, are slaves now but they were once a thriving society. It's no surprise that some would revolt. (The only surprise, really, is that the Alpirions and the Deizians both attempting to kill the Emperor don't bump into each other in the hallways of the palace.)

This book contained a lot of slut-shaming, stemming from Izana's former position as slave in a brothel. There's also at least one threatened-rape. I'd say it had too many sexytimes but I can't tell if I'm objecting to that or to the slut-shaming that surrounded them.

It was interesting to read scenes with Izana and Modius where her slavery was an issue. He had a tendency to forget it or pretend it wasn't a big deal, but she was very aware that she could be killed for the affection he so easily showed in public. She was always very aware of the worth of her life--nothing--and that was a refreshing thing to see in a book universe where slavery is commonplace.

(Provided by publisher) ( )