Kascia is shattered when they ask her to join the Enthronement. She wants to stop the horrific suffering of her people, but is it worth the cost of her heart and soul? When her father and arranged fiancé convince her to do whatever it takes to join the Enthronement – a contest to prove one girl a true princess and marry the crown prince – so they can assassinate the corrupt prince, she's left shattered and furious.
Wishing there was another way, Kascia submits her name for the Enthronement, crushing what's left of her heart. But when the royal family isn't the cruel tyrants Kascia expects them to be, uncertainty clouds her path, turning a clear directive into a dangerous minefield threatening to lead her and her people to their deaths. If the royal family isn’t encouraging the bloodshed, who is?
Will she uncover the truth before the time runs out? Or will the blood be on her hands when the war kills every last man, woman, and child left in Purerah?