Cindra Corrina has spent two years in the Daerbrik Fighting School, training in the combat style of armored knights. She has proven herself to her classmates and her teachers, and has gained confidence she never imagined. But all of her achievements are based on a lie; the lie that she is a young man named Dillan DePort. Now her deception is catching up to her, and the arrival of her Royal Cousin and his new army have brought imminent civil war to her doorstep. Cindra must now face her greatest enemy yet: the politics and culture in which she was raised. While Cindra faces the consequences of her actions, and the Dissenter Houses finalize their treasonous plans, the forces of chaos move the Dark Heart closer to its final, chosen victim.