Seventeen-year-old Eva is a princess, born with the magick of blood and bone--a dark and terrible magic that hasn't been seen in so long, the knowledge on how to wield its power has been lost to history. She wants nothing to do with the magick or with the Ivory Throne and heavy responsibility of leading her fractured country. But she has little choice. If she can't learn to harness the magick inside her by her nameday, she'll die at the hands of the Rival Heir. Her older sister Isadore, whose magick of light and persuasion is more glamorous but no less dangerous than Eva's, holds the hearts and alliances of the Court, and is widely favored to win the crown. Because in the Queendom of Myre, only the strongest, most ruthless rulers can ascend to the throne, and princesses kill for the right to do so.

When an assassin attacks Eva weeks before the competition is set to begin, she discovers there is more to the attempt on her life than meets the eye--and it isn't just her sister who wants to see her dead. Although humans have ruled Myre since the Great War, with fey holding only the illusion of power, bloodkin banned from noble society, and the despised khimaer forced to live in the Enclosures, unrest is growing, and someone is using the naming of the True Heir as a smokescreen for political gain.

As tensions escalate, alliances are tested and family secrets are revealed, and Eva turns to the help of an instructor of mythic proportions and a mysterious khimaer prince to grow her magick into something to fear. Because despite the love she still has for her sister and the childhood memories they share, Eva will have to choose- Isa's death, or her own; her freedom, or the Queendom.