A confrontation 1,000 years in the making. What do you do when the person you most love turns out to be your nemesis? Make sure you have your facts straight, for starters. Japhet is facing off against a man who used the world as a prop to gaslight him. Two things he knows going in: nothing Oren says can be trusted and everything he does serves a purpose. Often, that purpose is to convince Japhet he knows what's happening.It doesn't help that everyone wants a piece of him, but he has allies now. Tibor has the Havlsburg in hand; Anoush's fledgling cabal is ready to assist. Alary has proved there's little she can't do, and that's just the VIPs at the top of the list. Japhet's actions have won him the love of a people, there's just the one problem. He'd rather lose than beat his foe if winning means hurting him.