Stisele of Imlen knows she's in trouble, but not how much. The young adopted daughter of Beltresa's sovereign longs to be a weapon in her mother's service - even against her birth family, should Utroneth ask it. If only Stisele could master the temper that drives her to pepper the royal heir with petty kin-curses. But Stisele's dreams are bigger than the balance of intrigues that keeps her alive and captive in this perilous royal court. She can be more than a speaker of kin-curses. She deserves a life beyond the palace islet she's never left. Her two imaginary friends, if indeed that's what they are, tell her so. If Stisele is to make her own life in a world that's not ready for her, she must regain the trust of wary allies. She must begin to control the power of the kin-curse - her imaginary friends are as much hindrance as help. And she will have to give up her place in the only home she's ever known.