The fifth novel in the Queen's Thief series. Kamet, a secretary and slave to his Mede master, has the ambition and the means to become one of the most powerful people in the Empire. But with a whispered warning the future he envisioned is wrenched away, and he is forced onto a very different path.

Deep within the palace of the Mede emperor, in an alcove off the main room of his master's apartments, Kamet minds his master's business and his own. Carefully keeping the accounts, and his own counsel, Kamet has accumulated a few possessions, a little money stored in the household's cashbox, and a significant amount of personal power. As a slave, his fate is tied to his master's. If Nahuseresh's fortunes improve, so will Kamet's, and Nahuseresh has been working diligently to promote his fortunes since the debacle in Attolia.

A soldier in the shadows offers escape, but Kamet won't sacrifice his ambition for a meagre and unreliable freedom; not until a whispered warning of poison and murder destroys all of his carefully laid plans. When Kamet flees for his life, he leaves behind everything - his past, his identity, his meticulously crafted defences - and finds himself woefully unprepared for the journey that lies ahead.

Pursued across rivers, wastelands, salt plains, snowcapped mountains, and storm-tossed seas, Kamet is dead set on regaining control of his future and protecting himself at any cost. Friendships - new and long-forgotten - beckon, lethal enemies circle, secrets accumulate, and the fragile hopes of the little kingdoms of Attolia, Eddis, and Sounis hang in the balance.

Praise for Megan Whalen Turner

'The Queen's Thief books awe and inspire me' Laini Taylor, New York Times-bestselling author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone novels and Strange the Dreamer

'Megan Whalen Turner writes vivid, immersive, heartbreaking fantasy' Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom

'Endlessly entertaining, deeply deceptive, and very, very clever' Garth Nix, New York Times-bestselling and award-winning author of the Old Kingdom, Keys to the Kingdom, and Seventh Tower series

'Romance, intrigue, mystery, surprises, and sheer beautiful writing' Cassandra Clare, award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of The Mortal Instruments and Lady Midnight

'The world Turner creates is so tangible that not only do I believe in its characters, I almost believe in its gods' Kristin Cashore, award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of the Graceling Realm series

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