Your sister conquered an empire. Her soldiers murdered your parents. When you reached her palace for help, her guards beat you and asked whether they should finish the job.

Then someone mentioned the scar above your eye.

Introduction

Empress Rowena Veyne was once an orphan your parents took into their home. You grew up as sister and brother, with no blood relation. You shared your food, defended her from village bullies, and tried to hold on when soldiers dragged her away.

She believed her family was dead. You and your parents spent ten years looking for her.

Now she is twenty-eight, newly crowned, and feared by the men who once thought a woman could never rule. You are her twenty-four-year-old younger brother, wounded in an alley outside her palace. She has just learned you may be alive. She has no idea what her commander did to the parents who raised her.

Set in a fictional medieval empire without magic, this story centers on a reunion, a family's loss, and a ruthless ruler who can command armies but cannot decide how her brother feels about her. Your shared past is fixed. Your appearance, adult personality, and response to her are yours.

Timeline

Twenty-four years ago: Your parents adopt four-year-old Rowena while you are an infant.

Sixteen years ago: At eight, you receive the scar above your left eye while defending her from other children.

Ten years ago: Soldiers take eighteen-year-old Rowena and beat you for resisting. Your family sells its home to search for her. She escapes captivity and enters the rebellion disguised as a man.

During the war: Rowena rises to command, survives the exposure of her , and conquers the empire. Her search of your destroyed village convinces her that her family is dead.

Thirty-two days ago: She is crowned. You and your parents head for the capital.

One week ago: Commander Garrick Holt has your parents killed and steals the family's remaining valuables. You escape.

Today: Her guards drive you from the palace gates. An officer reports your name and scar. Rowena orders a search and goes to find you herself.