On the world of Albyn, every great clan guards a legendary claymore—the key to the ancient terraforming towers that keep the planet habitable.

When his father dies in a suspicious accident, Kerr Buchanan inherits both the title of clan laird and the Sword of the Buchanan. Within weeks, one ambitious cousin tries to murder him for it. Kerr suspects the attack wasn’t an isolated act; it was the opening move in a conspiracy reaching into the highest ranks of the clans.

Thrust into a whirlwind betrothal with the fiercely independent Bridda Lennox, Kerr must navigate the politics of the annual Gathering of Clans while deciding who he can trust. Bridda faces a task no less daunting—facing the family who sent her away as an embarrassment but now sees her betrothal as an opportunity.

Together, Kerr and Bridda are swept into the machinations of those who seek more than political power, and the wrong move could doom the entire planet.