Secretary to the Mede ambassador, Kamet has ambitions despite the confines of slavery. But when he’s warned that his master has been poisoned, Kamet’s plans evaporate as he faces certain execution as demanded by Mede tradition. Grabbing an unexpected (and suspect) avenue of escape proffered by an Attolian soldier, he flees Mede and all that is familiar. At first suspicious of his companion and disdainful of all things Attolian, Kamet slowly begins to trust the man in whose hands he’s placed his fate. Their journey to Attolia is richly satisfying for readers, not just in terms of the action but also its emotional arc. The two men are echoes of two legendary Mede heroes, Immakuk and Ennikar, in stories Kamet knows by heart. By story’s end, he knows his own heart just as well, and that of his companion—a true friend—in this stand-alone work set in the multi-book fantasy world of A Queen’s Thief. Those familiar with the earlier books will recognize people and events during this road trip with all the political intrigue, plot twists, and top-rate character development readers have come to expect and relish in this richly satisfying work. (Age 13 and older)