Merryn Yarrow has spent her life training for death.

As long as she can remember, Merryn has been preparing to wither away on the throne of Winstow. She has one fortnight of freedom before she must follow the ritual of every queen before her: take the final ascension potion and live her next painful twenty-five years to heal her mist-locked realm from the Sherwood Stillness. Magic doesn’t come for free, and therefore, neither does treatment. More folk are falling ill, and fewer can afford to seek care. Merryn has a plan to become the first queen to fix that — even if it costs her everything.

Master archer and masked leader of the Foxes, known only as “Hood,” has been stealing from Winstow’s wealthiest to keep the poor alive. He believes the only way to stop the Stillness is to end the cycle that lets it fester. With a new queen awaiting ascension, a window has finally opened. He’ll ensure she never takes the throne…and Merryn was going to let him.

Merryn has made her peace with death. What she did not prepare for was the legendary marksman to miss. Whether it should be considered mercy or theft, she can't afford to wonder long. Not when the realm’s only cure is still hanging in the balance. If he can’t fix his aim before the fortnight ends, the prey will be forced to become the hunter. But as strange memories of a past that can’t possibly be her own begin to emerge, she might find herself hunting down something worth living for.