Book timeline

Kenna assasinates Galan Deriyan, a noble member of Adeline Winterbournes court.

Kenna waits for Scar to show after killing Galan, but scar never comes by her apartment. Instead, her payment is left in a bag with the Winterbourne signal imprinted on it.

The afternoon after killing Galan, Kenna goes to the Devil's Tavern, to see if she can scope out who hired her. She talks to Clarissa, who mentions a strange Seldra girl (Eira) and a hooded woman (Verena) talking about Galan's death the night before. Kenna, frustrated and angry, gets in a fight at the pits. Meets Acyn Kennash, a healer.

Kenna is summoned to Scar's keep that night, and goes. He introduces her to Verena Winterbourne and Caspian Shor, Verena being the one who hired her to kill Galan. She is told Verena has asked for an assassin from Scar to join the rebellion and do Verena's dirty work for her, and Scar said Kenna. Killing Galan had been a test for her. Kenna is asked to join the rebellion, she says she isn't sure but she will think on it. But she does take Verena's second task to get information on and kill Anna Reels.

Kenna is invited to a party at Verena's manor home with the rebels. She goes and meets the Elite, Verena's young team of dangerous rebels. She recognizes Acyn from the Pits. She also recognizes Dimitri Apex, a thief who works for another one of the seven crime lords. The two hit it off and Dimitri says he will keep her company while she shadows Anna.

Kenna begins to shadow Anna Reels with Dimitri, but finds no information on the first day. When she realizes she will be getting nothing on Anna, she switches courses and begins to shadow another woman Anna had met with, and finds out information about the Native Spirits, and finds out that magic is being put into stones for the Winterbourne nobels to weild. She makes Dimitri promise not to mention it to Verena yet.

Scar, who holds a share in the Devil's Tavern, has Kenna face off in the pits. Dimitri comes to cheer her on. She faces off against an older man she doesn't recognize, and when she has him down, her mind is touched with a kind of dark magic, and her body as well. She is too in shock to move, and the man gets her down by stabbing her in the side with a hidden dagger. This leaves her down for a day or two.

Kenna is taken back to Verena's manor house so that Acyn can heal her. While there, she tells Verena that Anna is too heavily guarded for her to get any real information about the woman. Verena says she will get Kenna into private, royal meetings at the palace by saying she's hired Kenna as her new royal advisory.

Princess Aiyana Whitewood arrives in Endora, and is staying at the royal palace with Adeline as part of her journey. It is her last stop on her way home. Verena asks Tanith Blight to spy on Aiyana and figure out why she is in Isadeia.

Kenna is brought to a royal meeting a week after Aiyana's arrival and is introduced to the royals as Lady Aurelia. She speaks with Anna, acting as if she admires Anna's work, and manages to schedule tea with the woman. During this meeting, they are talking about a letter that has been found talking about a possible lost heir to the throne of Sansora with unimaginable powers that could cleave the world in two, and what to do about the rumor. They also speak of the new plague of that is now spreading.

Kenna accompanies Dimitri on his weekly visit with his mother, only to find her dead in her bed from the plague. Dimitri is struck with grief, and Kenna takes him to her cove. Dimitri opens up to her about his backstory, and Kenna in return tells him a bit about hers. The two get closer.

Kenna has tea with Anna and asks how the slave trade works and to see Anna's papers. Tea is the only time Anna is left unguarded.

When Kenna heads back from tea with Anna, a fire has begun from Hawthrone stretching all the way to Providence. Gaurds are stationed outside, not letting anyone in or out. This is an attempt to thin out the poor population that lived in those neighbourhoods from Hawthorne to Providence. Kenna is forced to move into Verena's manor with the Elite and officially joins the rebellion.

Tanith asks Kenna to befriend Aiyana, since her presence in the palace is not questioned and because Tanith has been unable to find any information on the princess. Kenna agrees.

Kenna is invited to the royal ball, and she brings Dimitri with her as well as Eira. She takes this oprrotunity to befriend Aiyana and it works. She also runs into Anna. As well as Nakoa Sunniva, who she runs into for a moment as she leaves the ball with Dimitri and Eira and he questions her.

Kenna finally tells Dimitri what really happened that night at the pits, what she felt from the man. And what she felt from Annna. A dark, otherworldly feel. Dimitri and Kenna get in a fight, Dimitri wanting to tell Verena and Kenna wanting to keep it a secret for now. They compromise and tell Caspian and Acyn.

After Kenna's second meeting at the palace and talk with Anna, she seeks out Aiyana with Tanith hidden in the shadows. Kenna and Aiyana take a walk around the palace, and Aiyana explains why she is in Endora.

Caspian asks Kenna to smuggle the ring from Anna the next time they speak. Kenna agrees to, and Dimitri begins to teach her how to steal.

Verena sends Eira, Kenna, and Will out on a task to smuggle papers from a traveling slaver who will be visiting a tavern in inner-city Isadeia. They accomplish this. EIRA AND KENNA FLIRT

They bring the papers back to Verena, only to find that the slaves they have captured are mainly from Vethea, and have already left for other countries. They also discover slaves are not only being sold into the mines but for personal use. Kenna is disgusted by this.

Verena leaks the letter of Saskia Amaris to the public, and people begin to whisper of a lost heir to the throne, one who could take down the Winterbourne Empire. Verena also begins searching for more traces of Saskia Amaris and her children.

Kenna has tea again with Anna, and this time is given a copy of the papers Anna has, that detail her plans for slavers and slaves. Anna also goes in-depth with her for her plans. When they shake hands at the end, Kenna manages to get the ring from her.

Kenna brings the ring back to Caspian and Acyn. They say they have to bring in Eira, because of her Seldra senses she may be able to figure out what it is. Eira does and informs them that it is raw magic stored in the jewel. It serves as a cell for magic, and those who possess the ring can wield it, but the magic will deteriorate the user's body after use.

At the third royal meeting, Kenna attends, there are new visitors of Adeline's in the room. Something inside Kenna recoils from them, and she somehow senses something off about them, but she can't place it. However, it's familiar.

When talking with Aiyana again after Kenna's meeting, Aiyana's glamor slips a bit, and Kenna is able to see her feline eyes and pointed ears. Aiyana is fae, Kenna realizes. She tells Tanith.

Verena finds Saskia Amaris's diary while looking through the palace library and takes it to begin reading.

Kenna and Caspian explain what they have come to know about Adeline and her court, and the magic they are wielding to the other Elites. They plan to send Tanith into the palace to find other information, as well as information on the new guests staying there.

Tanith goes back into the palace to find information, and she does. She overhears Adeline talking about some dark lord, learns that the new visitors are not who they say they are. She feels some sort of connection with them, and with the darkness, however. She also learns there is some kind of rift open somewhere, but she doesn't know where or what it means. She travels into the dungeons and finds out who is kept prisoner there, and finds the torture chambers.

Tanith tells the others what she has learned, and no one knows what it means. They decide it's time to tell Verena, and do. Verena is puzzled as well but says she will look more into it, as well as claims that Adeline may be a lot more dangerous than she once thought. Doubts about the rebellion begin to seep in.

Verena finishes reading Saskia's diary, where she speaks of her daughter. Verena puts two and two together and realizes Kenna is Saskia's daughter and the long lost queen of Sansora.

Verena asks Tanith to begin spying on Adeline since Kenna has Aiyana covered. Tanith does and finds that Adeline plans to kill Aiyana so that she may start a war with the Whitewood kingdom. A war that she's confident she will win. Tanith tells Verena and Kenna.

Adeline begins to get suspiscious of Kenna, and begins questioning her. Verena gets her out of the meeting before things can be answered. Kenna tells Aiyana that she has to leave, and that Adeline plans on killing her. Aiyana agrees to leave, and is gone the following morning.

Verena tells Kenna that she is the lost heir Adeline has begun searching for. Kenna is in disbelief but takes Saskia's diary. She reads it, then speaks with Dimitri about it, and asks his thoughts. He says he isn't sure, but she should do what feels right to her. She has no memory of Sansora, or Saskia, or the events spoke about in the diary. Kenna isn't sure if she believes she is the lost heir, and if she is she isn't sure she wants to be the lost heir or anyones savior. She doesn't want the responsibility.

Kenna goes to another royal ball, the winter ball, with Dimitri, and plans to make her move to kill Anna that night. She has everything she needs from her. So when she gets Anna alone outside, she lunges to make the kill, but that dark magic Kenna had felt in the pits seized her mind, her body, and she went slack. Anna then seemed to transform, only for a moment, into something other. Some creature Kenna didn't know of. The ball was interrupted, and Kenna was brought to Adeline, unable to move or fight back. Adeline puts Kenna in the dungeons, promising to deal with her the next day.

Some of Adeline's spies caught wind of the rebellion, learned the location of Verena's manor, and burned it down. The Elite's go into hiding, taking refugee with a local gang, The Angels.

Verena, who had taken refugee with Scar, was captured by the royal guard, and Scar's manor was raided and the assassins he harbored arrested as well as Scar. Verena was brought back to Adeline and sentenced to the dungeons with Kenna.

Kenna tries to kill Adeline and is hit with a dark wave of magic that breaks the blocks put in her mind and body, and her magic of fire and all her memories come flooding back. But she has no idea how to wield her magic. She burns, and everything around her does as well. Adeline quickly stifles it and laughs at her. Adeline knows exactly who she is. Then Adeline kills Verena right in front of Kenna and decides she is going to keep Kenna around, to make a mockery of her title and an example of anyone else who wants to follow Kenna's lead.