The empire had been dead these hundred years and more, but its corpse still twitched now and again as petty kingdoms rose and bickered and fell. Common folk such as Gwin struggled on as best they might. Now a distant war had claimed Gwin's husband's life, and a plague of the star sickness had carried off her little babies. Left alone and desolate, she struggled on, nursing her neighbors through the foul disease. It was a thankless task, for wherever the plague touched, it either killed or cursed - and who could say which fate was worse? Each of the six stars cast a different spell. Each curse bestowed a different torture. The Cursed is an epic tale of mortal men and women swept up in the terrifying maelstrom of destiny, of kindness and its consequences, of love and loss and laughter, of unforgiving fate, and of new beginnings.