begins a new epic fantasy saga from and bestselling authors Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory She is the unwanted spawn of a mad king and queen, her lands lost before her birth; her family—her very name—erased from history. Cursed by many, yet protected by an even greater curse. She was born on a night of storm and terror, raised in protected concealment, then banished from the only home she had ever known—an ancient enemy’s final stroke in a war begun centuries before. Secret studies of hidden lore reveal the truth of the prophecy that heralded her coming. Dark dreams teach lessons of war and duty, of strategy and magecraft, that she could not learn in a thousand lifetimes. She does not have a thousand lifetimes. She has just one—and time is running out. For the prophecy spoke not just of her, but of a great Darkness that would destroy the elven kingdoms. A Darkness that is coming ever closer. She is Vieliessar Farcarinon and she must save her people. Even if she must shatter custom and destroy the world she was born to rule.