A SciFi Fantasy Tale. Attacking the Usurâs forces, Shep-Alij, the ruthless Maeser of the Resistance, captures Maeva. She is the Usurâs daughter and the last vanata, a hybrid species. Sheâs âthe only vanata left in the world. Those gold rings in her eyes prove it. And the usurâs daughter had golded, which meant sheâd found a mate. But she wasnât fully golded. She hadnât screwed him yet. Shep looked at her again. Theyâd gotten to her just in time. If sheâd mated with some usur officer, the war would have been over for the resistance right there. They couldnât sustain their fight through the reign of a new usur. They would lose.â Maeveâs death will be the key to winning the war and freeing Shepâs people from a decade of oppression. But when Shep delays executing her and takes her to a secure location to find out for whom she has golded, he finds it more and more difficult to carry out his plans. Heâll face a choice between loyalty to his cause and his growing feelings for Maeve.