What can a slave girl do when she's but a pawn in a game of kings? Sent to infiltrate the enemy kingdom as the new bride of the King of Palandyre, Cinclair has only one goal in mind: the prize is her freedom, the price is his life, and the task is murder. But the man she must kill ignites in her a fire she cannot quench, sends her blood racing with the first flash of his grin and the tilt of his brow, and it feels like a dagger in her gut to see him falling for a mask she wears and the lies she's spun, because one more day his passion grows means one less day that he may live. As stakes climb higher and the war drums pound louder outside the castle walls, the hour of his death draws unforgivably near. But the heart cannot kill what the heart beats for... and her heart beats for his. [ cover by @VaineLuchia ]

Maximilien est un métis, né bâtard d'une mère noire et d'un père planteur, esclave illettré et d'un caractère farouche et rancunier. La veille de son dix-huitième anniversaire, il décide de s'enfuir mais est rattrapé et condamné à cent coups de fouet. Un mois plus tard il se fait vendre. Charlotte de la Vallières est la jolie fille d'un riche planteur, blanche de peau, noble de naissance, cultivée, ouverte d'esprit et attentionnée. Un jour, son père l'oblige à l'accompagner au marché des esclaves pour qu'elle en choisisse un qui viendra travailler dans leurs champs. Tout les oppose mais très vite l'amitié commence à naitre entre eux.