Cassander, a sweet, shy boy blessed with the ability to talk to animals and doomed with a rare “sun weakness,” grows up in the palace beside Prince Alexander—the boy destined to become a great conqueror. They’re inseparable: laughing, training, eating popsicles, sneaking into parades, exploring stables—until one tragic night when Cass’s world collapses. His parents vanish. He is nearly killed. He wakes up in a swamp, barely able to move. A woman finds him— Thaleia, gentle but fierce,