Pyra knows that to be born Gifted in the Empire is to be born hated and subjected. But while Pyra is hidden in our world she forgets the dangers of her own. When she makes a mistake involving her own Gift, she pulls ruination down upon her guardian, a woman who protects far more than just her. She holds one of the seals of the Empire; one of the six ancient stamps that guards the Empire from a horror only she understands.
Prince Cassius is more concerned with his father's terminal health than with the plight of Gifted but when his father dies, he finds himself accused of treason against his brother, the new Emperor. When Cassius' school master urges him to find the seals to preserve his mother's legacy, he is adrift from the only life he has known, hunted by a dangerous man.
Pyra and Cassius will need to work together if they want to decipher the clues and symbology that lead to the seals.
But the question is, are they on the same side at all?