Ten thousand years after the fall of the immortals, the Gaern rule the kingdom. Xali's family has ruled since the great king defeated the immortals and reclaimed the lands that once were stolen from their people. As a second born, Xali is expected to keep quiet and respect the first borns, but Xali is not like the other second borns. Born without the magic the others in her family hold, she yields the sword as her weapon. She is bold, curious, and unaccepting of her role as a second born. As she prepares for the joining to her betrothed, Carnick, she will confront the strange emerging powers that distinctly differentiate her from her family and the truths of the past that rules them. With each step she takes toward uncovering the truth, her world begins to shatter, her discovery certain to crumble everything in its wake and sever a family whose very existence was built upon a severed kingdom.