Once a physician, Alistair Hagen carried the healer’s touch before his Questioning turned him into something far more dangerous. Now the loyal Assenter of Kalder, he knows more about Garrick than anyone alive — knowledge he wields with precision and patience. Yet beneath the discipline of a warlord beats the heart of a father. His love for Celina is absolute, and his devotion to her eclipses all else. To Hagen, anyone who stands in her way is already marked for removal, no matter who they are.