The Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna was famous for her cruel practical jokes and capricious nature towards those she considered beneath her. Neither peasant nor prince, was safe from her wrath. Prince Mikhail, the scion of a noble and powerful family, found himself forced to become her court jester on the day his wife died. Later, he was forced to marry her chambermaid in an elaborate mock wedding. When the Czarina offers the newlyweds their freedom if they agree to spend their wedding night in the cottage she has had built for them, they eagerly agree, even though it is made of solid ice. Award-winning author Nancy A. Collins crafts a chilling Gothic fairytale based on an amazing historical event.