While her solstice-born brothers command vines to grab books and lions to attack sparring partners, Estyn swallows medication to dull her thought-shattering headaches. But fighting pain does nothing for the war, Estyn’s mother reminds her. Her brothers fight for the liberation of another kingdom. The least she can do is marry a powerful enchanter.

She loves her kingdom, but she’s suffocating under her mother’s expectations. So despite the risk of leaving her healers and the heartbreak of abandoning her younger brother, she decides to run away. The last night of her courtship competition provides the perfect cover—for the warring kingdom to kidnap her little brother.

Estyn knows little of the outside world and even less about running a solo rescue mission, but she can’t just leave her brother’s fate to politics. So one boat ride and half-baked plan later, she ends up in a rebel base of the warring kingdom, afraid she’ll die without her medicine. Miraculously, her headaches fade. But dangerous, semi-sentient shadows stir at her feet, drawing the interest of the charismatic rebel leader. Estyn would do anything—including using unknown magic for the rebellion—if they help rescue her brother. With a tenuous alliance and limited time, Estyn must evade capture by her father’s soldiers, unpack the reality of her kingdom’s brutality, and break into a heavily fortified castle using little more than quick wit and wild shadows or risk losing her brother forever.