Terus, beautiful city of the Confederacy, home to the Artisans, Guardians, and Consuls. A place of balance. But, something festers within, disrupting that balance, something that threatens the foundations of the whole world. All Laila ever prepared for was to become a Citizen. A Consul like her father, or a Guardian like her mother. But on the eve of her Test she meets a strange old man that forever changes that path. Now she must seek the answers she needs and come to terms with what she has become, all before everything she's ever known comes crashing down around her.