The Emperor doesn't need to keep his promises. . . . The competition is over. Susan and Tretan are among the winners and ready to go back home. The promise of freedom was always too good to be true and now that is proven. Instead the winners will be trained as Sicarii, the Emperor's prized assassins.

Every country has had its golden age, when that is depends on who you ask. What if those had all happened at the same time... under one leader? Susan's village has enjoyed being ignored by the Empire other than the taxes they pay every month, but when Germany becomes part of an Emorian competition, Susan and her brother's friend Tretan are chosen to represent their province. For Susan who has grown up hunting (illegally) the competition is easy at first, and if she wins she will be able to go home and not pay taxes. But over the course of the challenges she sees the extent Empire's depravity for the first time. Can the Emperor be trusted to let her go home? Or will she become a just another slave for a corrupt government?