Once there was an island where the dead walked the earth, and seven noble houses ruled using the arcane secrets of necromancy. A conqueror's blade brought them low, burning their libraries, killing their lords, and extinguishing their eldritch magic. But defiant against the new order stand the House of Teeth. Its last living members are the beautiful Marozia, the heiress to the House, and her cousin, the uncanny Lady Agnes. Though she has not spoken in seven years, Agnes is the true carrier of the House's legacy - and she has her orders. She must recapture the secrets of death magic, avenge her family's, fallen honor, and arrange her cousin's betrothal to Liuprand, heir to the conqueror's throne. But when forbidden passion sparks between Agnes and the golden prince himself, she faces an impossible choice. For Agnes's final order is the gravest: She must not fall in love.
