In this prequel novella from Rhyan's POV, we find out what happened in Bamaria three years before Daughter of the Drowned Empire when Imperator Hart came to visit on the summer solstice. 19-year-old Lord Rhyan Hart is a noble who hates his station and hates his title even more. He can't stand anything that ties him to the man who's caused most of his nightmares and abuse. His father. , and just about everything in his life. The last thing he wants to do is spend the summer traveling across the Lumerian Empire to its other end with his father. But when he arrives, he sees Lady Lyriana Batavia for the first time in nine years.