Jude, seventeen and mortal, gets tangled in palace intrigues while trying to win a place in the treacherous High Court of Faerie, where she and her sisters have lived for a decade.

King Jaron has taken the throne of Carthya, but after an attempt to assassinate him and with a invasion threat, he finds that he has no friends in the palace, not even his bride-to-be, princess Amarinda.

After her victory against the Mongol masters, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, seeks to crown herself emperor, but faces threats from similarly minded others.