In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline-- her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king's blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered. Monsters attack en route, slaughtering everyone except Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain. But he's no ordinary Woodsman: he's the disgraced prince, Gá́spár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Making a tenuous pact, they become bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. -- Adapted from jacket.