Khyrah is a small kingdom in the western mountains, so small that it should hardly be of note, but because of its importance in the history and culture of Western Eretsfel, Khyrah, along with its rulers and emblematic Crystal Palace, has for centuries been considered the symbolic leader of the other much larger kingdoms of the West. Its role in the future of Eretsfel becomes uncertain, however, as a young empire from the East begins to cast a shadow over the rest of the world.
Adria, the princess and heir of Khyrah, is too young to see the coming storm for what it is and is more focused on a choice that she will soon have to make. As the oldest daughter of the king, it is her responsibility to choose a husband, the boy who will someday rule by her side. Over the next year, she will spend one day, and one day only, with each boy in the kingdom of her age so that she can reach a decision by the time she turns nineteen, but even a year before that on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, she fears that she may never be able to live up to all that is expected of her.
Meanwhile, Alec, Adria's much older, adopted brother and leader of Khyrah's small but formidable Valley Guard, hopes he can shield her from having to worry about more than her search as he and the king try to shape Khyrah’s destiny. Neither Alec nor the king could have ever predicted the role that an obscure boy on the southern edge of the kingdom will play in the plans they've set in motion.