Princess Calanthe is better at swordplay than politics, much to her father’s disdain. In the Central Crown, wars are won with quill and ink, not sword and shield—until the Anathemata attack and turn the palace into a battlefield.
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And Cal’s only friend, Rose, led the charge.
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With the Legion in shambles, the palace is left defenseless against the Anathemata’s magical strength. As rumors of another potential attack circulate, the king busies himself with the nobility, who are all too eager to exchange military support for royal concessions. Still, his efforts are useless without intel on the Anathemata’s plans.
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While searching for information, Cal uncovers a rebel outpost and Rose, hidden among some rebels from the palace attack. Terrified and on the run, the Anathemata aren’t the monsters of Cal’s childhood nightmares. They’re teenagers. Orphaned by the Crown and barely scraping by in a land that wants them dead, they’re searching for a way to stop the bloodshed and save their people.
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Cal could turn Rose and the rebels in, guaranteeing their executions and giving the palace a fighting chance against the Anathemata. It might be enough to finally gain her father’s approval. Or she could take the offer from the Anathemata boy with a crooked smile and lethal wit: join their cause and stop the oncoming war before it starts—if she’s brave enough to risk her father’s wrath.