IN THE REALM OF THE DARKLINGS, NO MAN WANTS TO BE KING.

For a thousand years the Sacrificial Kings have sat upon the Blackstone Chair; an ancient, eldritch throne that feeds on life to raise the dead. Unfortunately for Ciaran Ryker, he’s next in line to be king. His scheming relatives want him to take the fall, but while he’s no gallant knight of old, his mind is sharper than any blade. He plans to seat another noble arse on the Chair before his family do the same to him.

But there are troubles in the realm beyond court intrigue. The undead are both soldiers and labourers, fighting the kingdom’s wars and raising its crops, monopolising the work once done by commoners. Left to seethe with discontent; the poor are easy prey for the vengeful machinations of a banished prince from the frozen south.

Amid the turmoil, Ciaran plays a deadly game of cloak-and-dagger, but in this game no one is what they seem, and playing could unleash a war that will tear the realm apart.