Emmeline Heron is the daughter of traitors, but even she cannot be denied entrance to the Carlyle School for Kings. For thousands of years, the academy has opened its doors to the best and brightest young people in the Kingdom. There, they are trained in matters of heart, strength, and mind, and the one who is deemed most exceptional will be crowned king for the next thirty years, when the King Cycle repeats. This decree was enacted by Godwit himself, to ensure the King is one young enough that hope and idealism still thrive within them-but if they want hope and idealism, they invited the wrong girl.