He came to be known as World Winner. Most Merciful Firstlord. Greatest of the Dragonhorses. Monster. Murderer. But before that, before ten thousand years of tradition forced him to trade a life that was rich and real and comfortable for the destiny he was bred to, he was a teacher, a father, a husband grieving the loss of the only woman he had ever loved.

Born and raised in anonymity, he couldn’t have known his fate. He expected certainty and instead found himself the hope of his people - the most powerful single entity in the known galaxy, ruling the most unassailable eleven planets in the Seventh Galactic Alliance. And at the center, mighty Equus, agricultural powerhouse, oldest of the civilized planets, his to rule. All that glory in the blink of an eye, and he was not the one who wanted it.

And thus begins the story of how one very surprised individual found his future, and his future found him, and bound him. What he did and how he did it. Who he loved, and who he killed.