Pact with the Savage King. The Nine Circles of Desire, #1

In the Tenraku Empire, politics hold a higher value than blood, and a ruler's daughters are merely bargaining chips. When the borders are threatened by an invasion from the North, the emperor forges two pacts. His beloved younger daughter is given the hand of a prince from a wealthy kingdom, while the elder, Princess Sayuri, takes the heaviest burden upon herself. To protect her sister and save her homeland, she willingly chooses to marry Khaqan Tarok, a powerful, fearsome chieftain surrounded by terrifying legends.
Exiled to the harsh, frost-bound Kar-Bator, Sayuri prepares for the worst. She expects pain, humiliation, and a life in a cage woven of fear. However, behind a veil of brutal strength and iron discipline, the Crimson Wind Horde hides an entirely different face. In the merciless world of the Whispering Mountains, Sayuri is surprised to discover that the monster from the tales treats her with a respect she never experienced in the luxurious chambers of her own home.
Forced to cast aside her courtly upbringing, the girl slowly sheds her learned submission. Her most powerful weapon becomes her brilliant, analytical mind, through which she gains the recognition of hardened warriors and begins to build her own position. But when the shadows of the past and the ruthless intrigues of the South come calling for her once again, Sayuri will have to decide where her true loyalty lies. Will she stand with the civilized world where she was always a prisoner, or by the side of the man with whom she felt free for the very first time?