Rating: 4 out of 5.

Book 2 of the trilogy starts shortly after the Battle of Galen’s Vale. Justice Vonvalt returns to capital city Sova to find seeds of rebellion stirring. Senators openly speak against the Emperor and fanatics preach vengeance in the streets. Vonvalt returned to deal with traitors amongst the Justices, but before he can get a handle on it all, the Emperor’s grandson is kidnapped and Vonvalt is ordered to drop everything to find him. He and his allies Helena, Bressinger, and Sir Radomir, are forced to go to the southern frontier, where they once again run into Claver and his templar knights.

Once again, we see the events through the eyes of Helena, Vonvalt’s assistant. This time Vonvalt is much less forthcoming as to the reasons for his actions, frustrating not only Helena, but his other allies as well. His actions also stir feelings of discontent and disillusionment as Helena struggles to come to terms with what she has known Vonvalt to always stand for and his current actions. Still struggling with whether she wants to become a Justice, she finds she’s not even sure she wants to continue accompanying Vonvalt in his pursuits. Add to that, confusion over her burgeoning feelings for him as a man and the addition of another female Justice to their entourage has Helena completely off-kilter.

This book is much more quiet that the first book, and the reader is kept in the dark, much like Helena, about what is happening. I found myself just as frustrated as her at times, although I could understand some of the actions Vonvalt took more than she could. Despite her time with the Justice, Helena still retains much of her naivete about how the world works. She still doesn’t understand that things are not nearly as black and white as she’d like to believe. As the book ends, everything is in chaos, allies are now enemies, and the group focuses all of its efforts on the battle with Claver for the future of the Empire.

I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from NetGalley and Orbit Books. All opinions are my own.