Publisher's blurb:
During a war between Heaven and Hell, a celestial commander named Rumael fell in love with a devil named Leska and pursued her. Leska was quiet and reserved and, suffering from perpetual melancholia, discovered she could feel happiness when around celestial beings. Despite returning Rumael's affections, she was reluctant to abandon her kind.
Meanwhile, the two armies prepared for a great battle. Before the fighting began, Rumael gave Leska two glowing ruby earrings. He told her to wear both earrings if she wanted to defect, and he would do everything in his power to protect her. If she only wore one, he would know she chose to remain in Hell, and they would carry on as enemies.
On the day of the battle, she donned both earrings. In her haste, she broke the clasp off one of the earrings, causing it to fall as she approached the battlefield. Upon seeing only one glowing earring from afar, Rumael grew bitter and fought recklessly.
Leska soon realized she had lost an earring and ran back to find it. By the time she returned, the celestial army had surrendered. Rumael was on his knees before an executioner, a sword at his neck. He cursed her aloud for breaking his heart. Not wanting him to die without knowing the truth, she proclaimed her love and held up the broken earring, just as his head was severed.
For her attempt to betray the armies of Hell, a tribunal cursed her with a cruel punishment – an inability to stop talking and express any emotion other than joy. Only her eyes revealed the once quiet and now tormented woman within.
All, however, was not lost. Dressed as a harlequin, she became a jester in the court of an alabaster beholder, Lord Auge, in his Mosaic Palace. Auge, like many beholders, considered himself superior to all others. She stroked his ego and convinced him of his right to rule the Nine Hells, if only he could build an army of skilled warriors. He taught her to use his magical mosaic, the Map of Souls, to capture souls on their way to other planes and pull them into the palace. There she set challenges for them to prove their worth to Lord Auge.
In actuality, Leska hoped to summon warriors strong enough to kill the beholder and grant her free reign over the Map of Souls. With it, she could reach Heaven, rid herself of the curse, and find true happiness. She tried many times, but every soul she summoned fell to the challenges. Then, and as luck would have it, a party of adventurers all died at once. Using the mosaic, she grabbed hold of the souls, and pulled…