NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In the fourth novel of the sizzling Bridge Kingdom series, one man must decide just how much he is willing to sacrifice to save the life of the woman he loves—from the New York Times bestselling author of A Fate Inked in Blood . Newly crowned as king, Keris is powerless as his forbidden relationship with Zarrah is revealed. But when Zarrah is imprisoned by the Empress, Keris knows there is only one way to save her: to ally with the kingdom he nearly destroyed. Imprisoned on the dreaded Devil’s Island, Zarrah faces two choices: prove her loyalty to the Empress who condemned her or die as a traitor. Yet as she struggles to survive among violent prisoners, Zarrah uncovers a third path: a rebellion to overthrow tyranny entwined with the destiny she must fight to claim. While the Empress plots a war with devastating consequences, Keris and Zarrah must find their way back to each other. Yet their greatest adversary is the fiery passion between them. Unless they overcome the bitterness of betrayal, their love will not be the bringer of peace but rather the fuel that turns the Endless War into an inferno. Includes bonus content from Lara's point of view, providing another perspective on the events of chapter 22 Don’t miss any of Danielle L. Jensen's Bridge Kingdom series: THE BRIDGE KINGDOM • THE TRAITOR QUEEN • THE INADEQUATE HEIR • THE ENDLESS WAR • THE TWISTED THRONE Danielle L. Jensen is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Fate Inked in Blood , A Curse Carved in Bone, and the Bridge Kingdom, Dark Shores, and Malediction series. Her novels are published internationally in twenty-one languages. She lives in Calgary, Alberta, with her family and guinea pigs. 1 Zarrah The deck rose and fell, the roar of the ship slamming against waves deafening. Rough water, which Zarrah knew from experience meant violent storms in the Tempest Seas, the elements standing guard over Ithicana while the kingdom recovered its strength. Not that it had much to fear, given that the eyes of Maridrina and Valcotta were firmly fixed on each other. And Zarrah was the fuel that had turned the embers of the Endless War into an inferno. In the hours and days since her aunt, Empress Petra Anaphora of Valcotta, had condemned her to imprisonment on Devil’s Island, Zarrah had swiftly come to understand why she hadn’t been granted a traitor’s death. The empress wanted war with Maridrina. More than that, she wanted to destroy the man she believed had ruined her plans to burn Vencia. The king who’d become her obsession. Keris. Zarrah bit down on her gag, her chest hollowing as his face filled her mind’s eye. Always the same moment: them standing on the highest reaches of Southwatch Island. The moment she’d realized that Keris had taken the information she’d given him about the plan to save Ithicana and used it to save her. People were always going to die, Zarrah, the phantom of Keris’s voice said to her in the darkness of her cell. There was always going to be a battle. I just changed the grounds it was fought on. Eranahl. Keris had changed the battleground from the bridge to the city Ithicana had been so desperate to defend, knowing it would lure out every soldier in its arsenal. Had ensured it would be a swift and decisive battle so that there’d be no chance Zarrah could reach the city in time to join the fight. Load your ships and sail home, Zarrah, because no one can accuse you of wrongdoing. The empress’s spies will have seen that Vencia remained too strongly defended for you to attack. As for you coming to Southwatch, given my father is about to gain uncontested control of the bridge, the empress is going to look the fool for not doing more to stop him. At least you tried. She had tried. But she’d also been the fool who’d given their strategy to the enemy. Regain her favor and secure your position as heir. Become empress. Do all the good you dreamed of doing. I’ll do the same . . . We could change our world, Zarrah. Create a peace between two nations who’ve been at war for generations. Save thousands of our people’s lives. But that doesn’t come without sacrifice, and that sacrifice is Ithicana. In the end, Ithicana had been victorious. But in that moment, she’d believed Keris had sent Aren and his kingdom to their doom, and her accusations repeated in her mind. You say you did it for our kingdoms, but that isn’t it, is it? God help her, but she’d remember the pain until she was dust in the grave. You did it for me. To save me. Admit it! Zarrah—­ Admit it! I couldn’t . . . I couldn’t let you die. Keris hadn’t liked her plan, her strategy, her choice, so he’d taken it away. That Ithicana had prevailed and defeated Maridrina didn’t matter because that had been luck. That had been the arrival of a storm—­and Ithicana’s queen—­not Keris’s design. I never want to see your face again. Never want to hear your voice. And if we cross paths, I will kill you. Zarrah shivered as the la