Framed for high treason by her treacherous aunt Valera, Lady Elowen bears a secret infant daughter while trapped inside a desolate prison tower. Using her dwindling life force, she binds sacred royal crests to little Mia and dispatches her on dragonback toward Prince Orion, the royal father who never knew of the child's existence.
Years later, five-year-old Mia scrubs stables at the imperial dragon academy while guarding her mother's sacred talismans from palace spies. When ancient dragons bow before the neglected orphan, Orion discovers his catastrophic blindness, racing against time to save Elowen from the scaffold before darkness consumes their kingdom.
