Priest, eunuch, and history teacher, Pagaose is rewarded by the gods for his good deeds at the conclusion of the epic fantasy “Dreams of the Fallen.” Reshaped into the perfect image of an emperor, Pagaose is dropped from the sky and given three miracles to guide mankind through the three generations with no contact from the gods. While the College of Wizards plots to discredit or kill him, Pagaose must rally the aristocrats by picking a suitable Empress candidate from each country. Each woman offers him alliances as well as enticements that disturb his dreams—each woman, that is, except the one he wants. Meanwhile, the ruler of the north plans to invade the island of Center, and a nightmarish dragon terrorizes the Inner Sea. After the first few days, this doesn’t feel like a reward anymore.

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### From the Author

There's no such thing as happily ever after. Kings have to deal with everyone's problems. I wrote this to bring a sense a closure to the series.
There were several difficult things about writing this story.
+ Making the magic original and a more central character.
+ Defining an entirely new Imperial Islands culture before throwing it into war.
+ I wrote the first two books 13 years ago. I still remember them, and they kept growing in my head. However, my style has shifted. Entering this book into "I Write Like" came out Anne Rice.
+ All my other stories are rather chaste. In this one, I wanted to push the envelope.
+ Stopping at 130,000 words. The original plan had seven more chapters of island hopping, which impeded the flow of the finale. People already complain about how long my epics are.
+ Having a character like Lady Corrie Evershade totally take over the midsection of the tale.