One day before her arranged marriage, Princess Glorya disappears - presumed assassinated by rebels opposed to peace between the warring nations. With a sixteen year old truce threatening to unravel, the king secretly substitutes his rebellious second daughter Dyana as the missing bride. If she reveals the secret, she will be the first to die. But Glorya lives, trapped in an underground city where strength and cruelty are valued, and a powerful Queen keeps a witch as her advisor. Glorya's only allies in this hostile world are an ancient priestess of a strange religion and a callous guardsman who finds her as baffling as she finds him. As Glorya seeks a way back to her groom and her destiny as the bride-price, Dyana fights her own battles with a people who may not be as different as she believed.