Hera commands the armies of the Aradon Empire, but almost no one knows the celebrated general is actually the queen. Trusting her husband Tristan completely, she hands him the throne's daily management and rides out again and again to hold the soldiers together. Then she comes home early and finds the truth: Tristan has a mistress, and that woman's children have been hurting Hera's own daughter.
The betrayal cracks everything open. Hera stops hiding behind other people's names. She gathers proof of what was done to her child, moves against the mistress and her children, and starts pulling the empire back into her own hands piece by piece. Tristan and everyone who profited from her trust will learn who actually built the throne. The stakes are total: her daughter's safety, her army's loyalty, and an empire that has no idea its general and its queen are the same woman.
