Tainted magic spills from a crack between worlds. Quakes rattle the Atal Empire, opening rifts that sunder cities. As the land shatters and betrayals cleave the Emperor's court, ancient power awakens in a flame-haired young woman. Savra, a miner on a remote coast, lives in innocence of her Emperor's savage rule. Only her father's disappearance--and the rumors of his rebel connections--break her illusion. But when she's suddenly torn from her home, turned pawn in the plots of madmen, a chance meeting with a young man provides the first glimpse of her tangled destiny. For nineteen years, Kostan has been groomed for one thing: ascension to the throne. One of thirteen imperial Scions, he bears a wound that won't heal until his twenty-first birthday. On that date, the shape of the Scions' scars will determine the next Atal Emperor. Savra secretly fears she carries her father's rebel blood. Kostan despises everything the Empire stands for. Neither desires a fight, but as the Empire crumbles around them, they stand on opposite sides of a war. Each can be part of the Empire's salvation, but only if they can bridge the chasm dividing them.