Publisher's blurb: Blood adorns cool stone, painted into the markings of a strange ritual. Beyond it waits a throne - flanked by fire, and sharpened stakes. Stairs wind their way through halls, and the light of many wall sconces illuminate the dark shadows and ancient recesses of a building so old no-one remembers its origins. Outside, warm winds stir pale sand; ruffling through the leaves of the strange, red trees that inhabit the area. Foreigners have been known to find the trees unsettling; often interpreting their crimson foliage as an ill omen. Perhaps, this time, they would be right...