Violet Winchester is a princess of a fallen kingdom whose older sister Irene was tortured to death inside the Valden Empire's Thorn Palace. To reach the men who ordered it, Violet volunteers as a political hostage bride for Emperor Edmund Flint, the violent ruler everyone else fears.
She plays the gentle, naive girl while quietly mastering perfumes and herbs. Edmund, scarred by a childhood in chains, can only sleep near her scents, and his obsession grows. Behind his back she works the court, stripping away the noblewomen and officials who helped kill Irene, one by one. By the time the emperor understands that every tender moment was staged, the poison is already in him and the last name on her list is his.
