For the first month after Lady Mia’s departure, Prince Jai, when not busy with his studies, could be found on the training fields working himself to exhaustion.

At night, in the quiet solitude of his room with just memories of her to keep him company, he wiled away the hours writing odes to his love. It was the only time he felt at peace, those hours spent remembering her.

At the end of the first month tragedy struck. His beloved grandfather, the Emperor, who had fallen ill ...