A rash act of defiance thrusts Shan into a high stakes competition with Onja, his lover, his queen.

His compassion for a mere human starts his descent into a dangerous test that he is not prepared for. Then, his desire to be his own master drives him to continue. Shan feels his magic growing inside him. He sees the good that can be accomplished if only he can stop the vicious queen who has ruled over the rys and her human worshipers for centuries.

Step into the epic world of the rys with this short story from the Rys World that inspired eight other fantasy novels by Tracy Falbe.

This short fantasy story presents a prequel episode between Shan and Onja 400 years before the events in the epic fantasy series The Rys Chronicles.