Since learning she had magic, life hadn't been the kindest to Leora. She left home at fifteen in order to train as a mage. She learned her mother - who she lost at a young age - was also a mage. She faced down a master mage and rescued her teacher only a year into her training, an ordeal which left another student mage - and her friend - dead.

After spending more than three years traveling and learning about her magic, she has learned to control her abilities and learned to trust her teacher, Rafael. Now, Leora heads overseas to a country that hates magic: Morlanta, the homeland of her friend, Lia. A devastating drought in the south is causing tensions within and without the country, and some believe the drought isn't of natural causes. Leora must pretend to be a noble, gaining new allies, facing new - and old - enemies, and making choices that could cost her more than just her life.