A blood-witch's mission to assassinate the prince she is betrothed to is compromised by the discovery of a deadly plague--and the beautiful princess intent on stopping it.
Ranka is tired of death. All she wants now is to live out her days in Witchik's wild north with the coven that raised her, attempting to forget the horrors of her past. When she is named Bloodwinn, the next treaty bride to the human kingdom of Isodal, her coven sends her south with a single directive: kill him. Except the prince is gentle, kind, and terrified of her. He doesn't want to marry Ranka; he doesn't want to be king at all. It is his sister, Princess Aramis, who seems to be the real threat. Then witches start dying-- murdered by a magical plague. As the coup draws nearer and the plague spreads, Ranka is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her power, her past, and who she is meant to fight for. She will have to decide between the coven that raised her and the princess who sees beyond the monster they shaped her to be. -- adapted from jacket