When his homeland is conquered by invading barbarians, Nessir winds up not dead, but instead serving the new kings much as he once served his own. Though at first he is terrified of what they will do, across the palace and through the kingdom, Abaidas and Ophion swiftly begin to make improvements their predecessor neglected. And though a married man should be off limits, Nessir finds himself falling for Abaidas anyway—and is astonished when the interest proves to be mutual, and to learn that Ophion has no objections to Abaidas taking a lover.

But just as Nessir is settling into his strange, new life, he stumbles across an assassination plot—a plot he cannot speak of for fear of his sister's life, unless he can convey it in a way that will not get him caught. In an act of desperation, he throws himself at Ophion, and under guise of being lovers the two work to protect the man they both love. And all the while Nessir tries to ignore the growing wish that Ophion's affections were not merely a ruse...