She loves her God, her subjects, her country, and her horses, in that order. In her arranged marriage, it does not matter that Etrea, standoffish blue-eyed queen of Etheria, where eye color rather than skin color determines a person's race, does not also love her husband, the High Prince Ymanu. The highest achievement of an Eatherian queen is to bear living sons. So when Etrea's third child is born a girl, her halfhearted fondness for her husband turns to outright hatred. Never mind that Ymanu is overjoyed to have a daughter. Never mind that the princess has inherited his green eyes, which mark her as a member of the superior race. But marital woes become inconsequential when Ymanu is poisoned with an obscure plant that damages his heart. Meanwhile, Alidias, the queen's adopted brother nearly starves to death as a prisoner inside a church steeple. Discovering who committed these crimes is simple enough; it is Marnal, the sullenly beautiful Duchess of Saviatha. What does Marnal want? More questions arise, as Etrea encounters Petram, a neglected boy whom Marnal subjected to the same sort of poisoning. It is one thing to eradicate the royal family in a quest for power. But why would Marnal harm two disabled boys with no blood ties to the throne? The answers to these questions will determine the fate of a nation. To thwart the Duchess, Etrea and Ymanu must join forces against her. Is political unity possible in the midst of their deteriorating marriage? Or will a shameful secret Etrea carries prevent reconciliation, and allow Marnal to destroy the country?