The King is dead. Long live the Queen.

Her father and brother dead, young Jasi finds herself queen of Erest. Her reign is not secure, though: it is not often Erest has a female ruler, much less one so young. Distant family and ambitious lords vie for a throne that is hers, especially now that a rumor has come to light about her legitimacy as the heir to the kingdom--a rumor that makes even Jasi question herself.

Consumed with a need for answers, Jasi recruits an old friend and novice mage, Ancin, to investigate while she attempts to keep control of her crown in court. But while she becomes ever more tangled in the politics and loyalties of Erest and its nobles, Ancin finds himself swallowed whole by a decades-old conspiracy, and a plot to plunge the kingdom into civil war.