Prudence leads a very simple life; she spends most of her time at the very prestigious King Leofric School and, in the holidays returns to the only place she has ever known as home - an orphanage in the southern half of the Elven country of Ealdhun. It is a routine she is content with until one summer her guardian, someone she has never met and knows little about, decides to send her to the palace with the elven prince, Rupert. Although the Prince attends her school he is two years older than Prudence and all she knows about him is that he is a bit of a snob who only mixes with a select few friends. Not at all happy with this decision Prudence has no choice but to go along with her Guardian's plans and she starts preparing herself for a very long and boring summer holiday. As a backdrop to all this the faery world is not a very settled place to be. The fairy kingdom of Breena is recovering from a bitter civil war and there is political unrest within the hill country of the Goblins. Prudence is blissfully unaware of just how all of this is likely to affect her until she arrives at the palace to make some startling discoveries regarding the identities of both herself and her guardian. Then, when her best friend is kidnapped by goblins Prudence and her new found friends at the palace embark on a dangerous and desperate attempt to rescue her........