Iona of Tamaris is a half-elf caught between worlds. Born a bastard child with the curse of an ancient magic, she has always lived a life with secrets weighing her heart down like a stone. The price of discovery? Death. When two unwelcome visitors arrive in Yssa's royal court, however, her life is changed forever. The answer to all of her problems, it seems, lie in Zaeylael, the City of Splinters. But danger lurks around every corner even in a place where mages can walk freely under the sun and too many smiles are only masks hiding wicked plots.