In a time of madness, is love worth the risk?
As a maid in the Kremlin Palace, Inga is mostly invisible. Courtiers are likely to use and discard her if she lets them. A lesson she learns when her best friend is brutally attacked. Inga steers clear of romance, intrigue, and men in general afterwards. It makes for a lonely life but invisibility is the key to safety.
As a boy in the Kremlin, Taras lost his mother to mysterious circumstances. He returns as a man to discover what really happened. Closed-mouthed courtiers make his task difficult. Dangers mount as Tsar Ivan IV, called Terrible, slides toward insanity. The opulence of Ivan's court hides deadly secrets, and Taras must turn to the muddy streets of Moscow to learn the truth.
When a brutal courtier sets his eyes on Inga, she turns to Taras for help. He pretends to take her as his mistress to save her from Sergei's dangerous bed. It's a compromising situation, but before long, true sparks ignite between them. Inga must decide if happiness with Taras is worth forfeiting her invisibility and breaking down the walls built up so carefully around her heart.
If Inga and Taras don't successfully traverse the dangers of the imperial court of Russia, they may be swept up in the blood bath of Ivan Grozny. Two more forgotten victims in a time of love and madness....
A sweeping historical epic full of wars, intrigues, death, and love.
"Definitely ranks among the best of epic sagas!" -S. Wright