Possessing the strength of twenty men, a knight will rise to rule the realms and slay the beast. For five hundred years, this prophecy has been spoken. It has hung over each king of Viribus like a specter—powerful, certain, and as unseen as the creature it speaks of. It has created animosity between those who rule and those of the bloodlines sworn to protect them. Each knight is the eldest son of his family and swears his allegiance to the crown on his twentieth birthday, lest the kingdom fall into chaos, only to be put to death on his twenty-fifth. Such things never bothered Princess Destiny, the spare daughter of a cruel king. She had no duty but to be beautiful and silent, or so she’d been raised to believe. That all changes one night when Destiny steals away to the garden for a moment of solitude and meets Christian, the latest of her father’s knights. He’s kind and handsome, and the hours slip by as they speak until the sun rises. With his kiss still on her lips, he tells her he wishes they had never met. Heartbroken, she asks him why. “My twenty-fifth birthday is in a week,” he says. Will Destiny be able to change his fate? Or will they be two more souls sacrificed to a lust for power?
Though the prophecy has been satisfied for now, Destiny’s world is in more turmoil than ever. With the revelation about Christian’s brother, his mind is far from the fight. Will her love be strong enough to keep him steady? The kingdom of Viribus stands at the edge of war with her enemies vying for the throne. Viribus needs Destiny to take her rightful place as queen, but the throne will not be hers without a fight. With Christian at her side, can they lead the nation to peace, or will Viribus fall the those who lust after the throne?