Young Stalwart, known as Wart to his fellow students, is expelled from the academy of King's Blades, only to be plunged into a current of breathless intrigue and danger. Together with Emerald, a former White Sister, Wart must survive corcery, swordplay, ambush, a chimera, a quagmarsh, and more, and uncover a devious plot to assassinate their king...and prove himself worthy of a place among the King's Blades.