Pursued by the forces of a far-reaching throne, Ava and Sariel have fled their world and cast themselves into the wastes of the Northern Dark. Adrift upon a mysterious new continent, the courtesan and the former slave must navigate the treacherous depths of the black-market cities that lie ahead. When Ava finds herself separated from Sariel, however, the game begins to change.

Drawn into the heart of a decaying and decadent court, Ava reluctantly enters the service of the One O'clock King. Her future, the freedom of Sariel, and the fate of all she holds dear are at the mercy of the ailing monarch: a soldier in the final years of his reign, who commands the flow of contraband that breathes wealth into every corner of the worlds. Without an heir, the unrest that has plagued his holdings is set to fracture them, at last.

Faced with the revolution and rebirth of a vast and bloody empire, Ava must take her place as an unwilling pawn in a tightening circle of murder, witchcraft, and alchemy.