Border assassin Elowen enters the dragon palace as a political bride with one objective: kill Dragon King Rhydian with the grayglass dagger left by her mother and avenge Sable Reach, burned twenty years earlier. On their wedding night, with the blade at his heart, she discovers that Rhydian is petrifying. On the fortieth night the curse will turn him completely to stone. It can be broken only if his spouse chooses him freely and sincerely, without threat, drugs, or magical coercion. The grayglass dagger can uniquely kill him only while the curse remains active.
