But before he can set out to save Kaden, Valyn must survive one horrific final test. An ocean away, Valyn endures the brutal training of the Kettral, elite soldiers who fly into battle on gigantic black hawks. Their rituals hold the key to an ancient power he must master before it's too late. Kaden, the heir to the Unhewn Throne, has spent eight years sequestered in a remote mountain monastery, learning the enigmatic discipline of monks devoted to the Blank God.

But each of them also has a life-path on which their father set them, destinies entangled with both ancient enemies and inscrutable gods. His daughter and two sons, scattered across the world, do what they must to stay alive and unmask the assassins. In The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley, the emperor of Annur is dead, slain by enemies unknown.