Carlan Andrassis is a Firebrand, one who can create and control fire, as well as a Lord of the second most powerful House in the Ten Kingdoms. He is also a young man with a dark secret that makes him afraid to use his power. But as a terrible plot plays out around him, he must learn to conquer that fear, or be destroyed by it.
Jada Suvari is a Firebrand as well, and daughter of the High King of the unified kingdoms of Garden. A spoiled, willful young woman with a quick temper, her world revolves around herself and her whims. But when a little harmless flirting with a handsome young knight leads to danger, Jada finds herself forced to face a truth inside her own heart.
A plot to overthrow the Ten Kingdoms has been discovered, but the only ones who know of it are a band of fugitives wanted for murder and treason. They barely escaped Castle Sovereign with their lives and have spent the last year in hiding. But now the time has come to strike back against House Andrassis. The only hope they have is finding a way to warn the kingdoms who are not part of the plot and rally them under the same banner. Which is exactly what Jada Suvari intends to do.
Being daughter of the High King ensures that Jada will get an audience with any monarch she chooses to visit, but it will be no easy thing to tell a friend from an enemy and a single slip could cost them all their lives.
Against the wishes of her friends, Jada enlists the help of a telepathic mage. A man whose loyalty can be bought. A man who once worked for the enemy. A man who may prove to be their undoing.
With the High King dead and the future of the Ten Kingdoms at stake, the companions have split into two groups. Jada’s group is bound for Waterfall in the north, with the intention of removing the usurper Tarel Andrassis from her throne.
Carlan’s group flies south to Slithering, there to hopefully find an ally in the slyph king.
In both directions wait dangers neither group will see coming. Dangers of the flesh and dangers of the heart. In the end, whether the war for the Ten Kingdoms is won or lost, nothing can ever be the same again.