Lorcha, a country plagued by clan conflicts and broken alliances, sits like an unpolished gem on Alchorel, a storm-ravaged planet as volatile as its politics. Someone is killing heirs to the throne. Monarch Janvian, the only hope for the bloodline, is next. Nowhere within Lorcha is safe, not even with her own kin. She is forced to flee across the lightning-ravaged Wilde. There she hopes to find shelter with the mysterious Mirage Clan of her grandfather's stories, a people who may not exist. But any sanctuary is temporary. She leaves the country in the care of a society of mystics with their own secret plans for the future of Lorcha. They agree to rule the country in her place with a chilling condition. Janvian must return in one year to reclaim the throne or lose it forever for herself and the child she carries. While she seeks refuge, it is up to her rigid uncle and free-spirited sister to hide her absence and to keep the clans united. Surprising enemies and unlikely allies surface in the effort to prevent Lorcha from deteriorating into civil war.