Aquilan wants to be a benevolent and gentle ruler, which means Rhalyf does the dirty work as his mage-bodyguard, fixer and spy. They’re best friends, but like everyone who deals in shadows, Rhalyf has secrets that not even the King knows. In public, Rhalyf plays the part of an irritating hedonist in search of the next pleasure, but he’s deadly serious about Aquilan’s success and safety and will do anything to smooth Aquilan’s path.

Though Finley can’t use magic himself, he dreams of spending the rest of his mortal life studying it. But Finley is more than a scholar. Even the magical beings around him admit that his intelligence has won him a place in this new world. This is a good thing, because the human and nonhuman world is going to need him.