Sixteen-year-old Deka waits with trepidation and hope for the Ritual that will change her life forever. Finally, the villagers of her homeland will accept her as an equal, despite the dark skin of a southerner. For she will prove that pure blood flows under this skin.
However, her supernatural intuition suggests that Deka is different from all the others. And on the day of the Ritual, a terrible truth is revealed – instead of bright crimson blood, cursed gold flows in the girl's veins. And this means something worse than death.
Fortunately, a mysterious emissary of the emperor offers Deka a choice: to stay here and fall victim to the cruel elders, or to fight shoulder to shoulder with those like her. They are called alaki. They are nearly immortal. And only they can prevent the greatest threat to the empire.
