Vidanric Renselaeus, Marquis of Shevraeth, is a courtly, well-mannered teen coached in the noble art of dueling. Growing up in a court that on the surface seems civilized under an increasingly despotic king, he is sent by his father to the infamous military academy in Marloven Hess. He expects to be reading theories about statecraft, but finds that he is going to learn about military command from the inside—and finally, what it really means to be king.

In this prequel to Crown Duel, the reader learns what made the elegant Vidanric into the enigmatic Marquis of Shevraeth.