Anya, daughter of Alfheim’s regent king, has spent centuries mastering seidr, politics, and restraint. But when duty binds her to an arranged marriage with her childhood friend Rathuell, the one man who has always stood at her side, everything between them shifts from familiar to dangerous.

To protect the royal line and keep peace between realms, the newlywed pair must travel to Jötunheim to settle a wergild debt owed to Gymir for the death of his son, Beli, slain by the god Freyr. In Gymir’s hall, grief has teeth. Old grudges simmer beneath ritual hospitality, and something unnatural begins to stir along the shore. The dead are restless, the wards are failing, and vengeance is never satisfied by gold alone.

As Anya’s magic strains against a rising supernatural threat and Rathuell’s steady devotion becomes her safest harbor, they must decide what justice truly costs—and what they’re willing to claim for themselves when gods and kings demand their due