A military slave's investigation into ritualistic murders reveals a reality worse than political brinkmanship: an insidious god devoted to engineering an empire's willing embrace.

For Teagyn, a bondservant stripped of his citizenship as punishment for vigilantism, his master’s word is the only law he knows—until they escort the enigmatic Grimmoc to court, and frozen, bloodless corpses follow in his wake. Teagyn's investigation reveals a conspiracy deeper than political machinations: a forgotten god infecting the soul of a nation desperate for hope. Now branded a traitor and facing the noose, Teagyn casts aside his own preservation and races to expose Grimmoc’s sedition before his master, his empress, and his nation are sacrificed on the altar of divine ambition.