For Bretaigne E. Black, college teammate, instigator of toga wedding showers, organizer of "wine & sign" book signings, and dear, dear friend. Don't know what I'd do without my Bebs. Acknowledgments My deepest thanks go out to three amazing ladies and very talented authors: Gena Showalter for all her incredible support, Caro Carson for always being there for me in a pinch, and Barbara Ankrum for her eagle-eyed critiques and encouragement. And thank you to Richard, my wonderful husband, for confirming the times of sunrises and sunsets all over the globe and for verifying the travel and transportation logistics in this book. Prologue Blachmount Manor, Estonia September 1709 Two of my brothers are dead, Sebastian Wroth thought, staring up from the floor as he fought to keep from writhing in pain. Or half-dead. All he knew was that they'd returned from the battlefront... wrong. Every soldier came back changed by the horrors of war - he himself had - but Sebastian's brothers were altered. Nikolai, the eldest, and Murdoch, the next eldest, had finally returned home from the Estonian-Russian border. Though Sebastian could hardly believe it, they must have left behind the war that still raged between the two countries. An angry storm boiled, lashed inland from the nearby Baltic Sea, and out from the torrents of rain, the two strode into Blachmount Manor. Their soaked hats and coats stayed