Challenge

Juljana's hopes lay in ruin when she learns Maia will wed Hephestia's brother, Damian, and that the high camp has been captured by Aeropos's forces. Not realizing that it was Maia's compliance which has won them all freedom from Gaius's tyranny, she and Lucilla have already taken steps to secure another heir to the Ardianian throne.Struggling to comprehend Maia's decision, Stefan attempts to confront her when she returns home to oversee her parent's divorce. But a tragic turn of events puts Maia's life in peril and pits Gaius against Stefan, setting off the first of many challenges he must overcome in order to win the freedom of the Illyrian captives, even as he despairs of ever sharing a life with the woman he loves.What Stefan does not know is that a trap has been set by King Aeropos, using the lives of those who are waiting for rescue as bait, to lure the Ardianian heir out into the open, where Gaius has been skillfully preparing for his annihilation.