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Follow Lois McMaster Bujold, one of the most honored authors in the field of fantasy and science fiction, to a land threatened by treacherous war and beset by demons.

Three years have passed since the widowed Dowager Royina Ista found release from the curse of madness that kept her imprisoned in her family's castle at Valenda. Yet her newfound freedom is bittersweet, and so the road, and escape, beckons.

As Ista and her little party of pilgrims wander at will, they are unexpectedly set upon. But a mysterious ally appears, a warrior nobleman who fights like a berserker. The temporary safety of her enigmatic champion's castle cannot ease Ista's mounting dread, however, when she finds his dark secrets are entangled with hers in a net of the gods' own weaving.

What the inscrutable gods commanded of her in the past brought her land to the brink of devastation. Now, once again, they have chosen Ista as their instrument. And again, for good or for ill, she must comply.

Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the most honored writers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, having won six Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. Her second novel, The Warrior's Apprentice, introduced young Miles Vorkosigan, one of the most popular characters in science fiction. In 2011 she was awarded the Skylark Award for her significant contribution to science fiction. And in 2017 the Vorkosigan Saga received the Hugo Award for Best Series.

Kate Reading is an Audie Award-winning narrator and has received dozens of Earphones Awards. She has been named by AudioFile magazine as a Voice of the Century, as well as the Best Voice in Science Fiction & Fantasy in 2008 and 2009 and Best Voice in Biography & Culture in 2010. She is also a theater actor in the Washington, DC, area and has been a member of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company since 1987. Her work onstage has been recognized by the Helen Hayes Awards Society, among others.