In a war-torn world ruled by magic, eighteen-year-old Katie is a princess who has none. She must unleash her magical abilities or risk losing everything she loves.

Katie is so shy that her mother, the queen, mockingly calls her ‘Mouse.’ Her only real talent is getting around her mother’s castle unnoticed.

Alone and unloved, she befriends Alaric, the foreign mage-king who is her mother’s enemy and prisoner. Cleaved from his magic, Alaric hopes to negotiate for his release and for a way to end the long, brutal war between the two kingdoms. Drawn to his vulnerability and his principled stand, Katie shares his desire for a just peace.

Alaric negotiates a settlement with the queen that hinges on one condition: He must marry one of her daughters with magical abilities. Not the magicless Katie. The agreement is sworn on an oathstone—and to be forsworn is to die.

When Alaric teases the tiniest bit of magic from Katie and announces that he will marry only her, the queen is livid. In mortal danger, Katie and Alaric flee for their lives.

Only Katie’s blossoming magical ability can bring an end to the war—or it might destroy Alaric and all she loves.