While about to be executed for murder, Yelena receives a reprieve to eat the best of meals and have rooms in the palace. But she'd also risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. Yelena chooses to become food taster, but the chief of security feeds her Butterfly Dust, and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay the agonizing death from the poison. Can Yelena escape her new dilemma in the face of mounting disasters?...

A lesson in loyalty-a master class in intrigue. So far, I've managed to survive. You would think after being kidnapped as a child, imprisoned in my teens and released to become a poison taster, I would have endured enough. But no. The discovery of my magical abilities-powers forbidden in Ixia-has resulted in an execution order. My only chance is to flee to Sitia, my long-lost birthplace. But Sitia is unfamiliar. I'm treated like an enemy-even by my...