In 1821, several forces come together to unite a fractured, war-torn kingdom. Kathleen being the centre of the conflict and the heiress to the throne is propelled into a terrifying world of power and responsibility by a king as harsh as the land he was born to rule.
Threatened by the desires of dangerous men who see her as only a pawn in their games of power, Kathleen is trapped by the hands of a cruel prince, who has proven he will stop at nothing to have his way. And if he can't have her, no one will.
Sweeping from household to household, a secret of death and murder causes each life to hang in balance in a war of kill or be killed. Tragedy and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, disgrace and terror, and the fate of the Kingdom rely on the secret of the deadly mark.
