When Violet Sorengail follows Xaden Riorson and the surviving marked ones to Aretia after the Battle of Resson, she expects secrets, revolution, and war—not the woman who once held Xaden’s heart. Althea Nightengale, Xaden’s first love, has spent the last six years fighting for Tyrrendor from the shadows. Raised in Aretia and trained at a different war college, she’s become one of the rebellion’s deadliest riders despite her small stature. Bonded to the powerful black Swordtail, Aegar, Althea is as breathtaking as she is lethal. Their reunion shatters the control Xaden has spent years building. Faced with the woman he believed he’d lost forever, old love, grief, and memories come rushing back, leaving Violet questioning where she truly stands in his heart. As war closes in and loyalties are tested, Xaden must confront the life he left behind while Violet struggles with the realization that sometimes the greatest rival isn’t an enemy—it’s the person who knew someone first. An alternate Iron Flame where the past refuses to stay buried, and love is far more complicated than fate.