After being forced into an arranged marriage by her Queen mother, Zora Winnser, the last princess of Samaria, finds herself traveling from her home country of snow-capped mountains to the southern swamplands of Cara. Accompanied by none other than her soon to be husband, the vain and selfish Prince Spencer DeVore; the mysterious Misou mercenary, Dakota; and two black-veiled Carian slaves, Zora has no choice but to accept her fate as a future Carian noblewoman. But once in Cara, Zora quickly learns that the South is a more brutal place than she'd ever imagined, and the key to her survival might mean more than just adapting to a new set of circumstances. When Zora learns that Chancellor Leonardo Santini, the one person who can reinstate her royal title in Samaria, is coming to Cara, Zora decides that a political alliance with the Chancellor might just be to her advantage. Soon Zora is caught in the middle of a battle of wills, corrupt political negotiations, and a centuries-old conflict that may just break the entire reality of the Realm as she knows it.