War is on the horizon-but almost nobody knows it.

Ignatius is a young blacksmith in debt, and when he's scammed into military servitude for a kingdom secretly preparing for a vengeful war, he's forced to confront painful secrets from his past. A past about which he knows very little. His only chance of escape lies in discovering the truth behind the mysterious tattoo inked across his chest as an infant.

Among friends and unlikely allies, and under the threat of blackmail, Ignatius has no choice but to spy for his captors. But once he arrives in supposed enemy lands, Ignatius' suspicions are confirmed that he's stuck on the wrong side of justice. To make matters worse, he falls for a talented physician, who puts her own life at risk to save Ignatius when he reluctantly draws her into the line of fire.

With the future of thousands of innocent people hanging by a thread, can Ignatius and his friends find a way to stop the war before it starts? Can he endure the long-buried secrets of his past before an unthinkable weapon of devastation reduces the continent to ash?