Preparing for the queens' sixteenth birthday celebration and navigating the fallout of the Quickening, the sisters reassess their strategic paths to the throne using new understandings of their powers and destinies.

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born--three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to control storms or flames with the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, able to ingest the deadliest poisons without harm. And Arsinoe, a naturalist, can control nature. But becoming the Queen Crowned isn't solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister...

When she finally gets the crown, Queen Elizabeth faces murmurs of dissent among her people and the threat of her sisters returning to Fennbirn to usurp her throne.