Born a year after the Realm's Delight, Prince Aerion Targaryen was never meant to inherit the Iron Throne. But the realm has always preferred sons. Cruel where his sister is calculating, merciless where she seeks legitimacy, Aerion grows beside Rhaenyra as her shadow and her sword a dragon hatched of the same fire, but forged in something darker. While lords whisper that he would make the stronger ruler, Aerion's loyalty belongs to one person alone. When the Dance of the Dragons begins, the realm will learn a terrible truth: Rhaenyra may want the crown. But her brother wants the world to burn for her.