Traitor. Heretic. Murderer.

Khason Relgar has been named all of these and does not deny them, but he is repentant. Weary of self-imposed exile, he turns to Arilor, the tiered, mountain city, where he remembers fleeting happiness and seeks to recapture it. There, he hopes to make a new life but finds he cannot escape the shadow of his past.

A killer stalks the streets, butchering their victims in ceremonial fashion. Ensnared between political rivals and watched closely by Arilor’s peacekeepers, Khason seeks to catch the killer with the aid of Ila Merinus, a local innkeeper, and Taber Zacharius, the son of a low-ranking noble. In a world riven by magic and fear, Arilor stands as a bastion of normalcy, but unless the killer can be stopped, Khason’s chance at redemption will be ruined and the city changed forever.