It begins with a severed finger and with a gift in Winter. Not realising that she is being courted by a faery suitor, The Bride enters the cold and sparkling world of the Prince of Spiders. She takes the severed finger, unaware that such gifts carry consequences, and finds herself trapped. The Prince of Spiders rules this land of dreams, lost in glittering snow. As a Winter King, he should end his reign by dying at the coming of Spring. Until now he has delayed this by offering the blood of artists and poets to the ancient spirits of the land, eeking out his season long beyond its time. But now he has a more daring plan in his heart... a plan that is thwarted by the disappearance of his human bride.