In a world of magic, dragons, and spirits of power, sixteen-year-old Claire serves as the feared and hated heir to a crumbling throne. In the dark of the night, a sinister force takes her mother, the queen that protects her people. Claire must travel untamed lands armed only with the very powers that her own people fear and a temperamental little brother who carries his own scars. They must face ancient threats to find the queen their people desperately need to survive. Can she return her mother to the throne? Will her people wither without a powerful ruler?