In the Shadow of the Palace

Before a rebellious princess fell in love with her guard... Before a kingdom transformed into an empire... Before a war was fought in the mountains of the East... A little girl named Cara was born in a dockside house of ill-repute. Eight hundred years before Princess Natasia left her mark on Empire history, the daughter of a prostitute eked out a hardscrabble life in a Shipper's Quarter brothel called the Serpent's Tongue. From an early age, Cara knows she wants no part of the business of the Serpent's Tongue, but as a child of the brothel, she also knows she won't be given a choice in the matter. As soon as her monthly blood comes, she'll be forced to follow in her mother's footsteps. But a Wise Man takes pity on Cara. Leveraging his influence, he takes her away from the Serpent's Tongue and sends her to a place she never dreamed she'd even see up-close: the palace of the House of Dorsa. Yet no one -- not the Wise Man, not Cara, and certainly not the residents of the palace -- could have foreseen what would come next. As circumstances converge to thrust Cara into the center of palace politics, the humble young chambermaid sets out upon a path that will change her life -- and the path of the Kingdom of Dorsa -- forever.