Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Dance of Shadows

As the Sun sets on the age of virtue, the shadows gather for a final dance The Mathuran Republic and Magadhan Empire are locked in mortal struggle, but they are not the only pieces on the board. Over the Eastern horizon, storm clouds gather. The Rakshasan Tree Cities have opened their borders for the first time in centuries, gathering kings, clerics, matriarchs and merchant lords to a Conclave of Peace... all the better to carve up the future without having to worry about either Empire or Republic. After all, a season of peace is the time to plant anew the seeds of war. But in this world drenched in oil, three women emerge, each the spark that might light the fire. A Pirate Queen discovers the only gold around is in the bars of her cage. A Temple Courtesans heart dances for the lowborn archer she was tasked to destroy. A Librarian Princess steals from deathless witches and legendary thieves to save the world from an ancient plague. As smouldering conflicts reignite, intimate betrayals unwind and ancient evils awake, our cast of spoilt heroes and lovesick princes, immortal assassins and their apprentices, deaf swordswomen and exiled snakelings will find no sun to light their path. For the Son of Darkness rises, boiling over with a wrath that all the oracles in the world cannot appease. Seeing the future is one thing, changing it is quite another Unless it is through a heist.