In the country of Carthya, a devious nobleman engages four orphans in a brutal competition to be selected to impersonate the king's long-missing son in an effort to avoid a civil war.

Publisher Annotation: Fi is a bookish treasure hunter with a knack for ruins and riddles, who definitely doesn't believe in true love. Shane is a tough-as-dirt girl warrior from the north who likes cracking skulls, pretty girls, and doing things her own way. Briar Rose is a prince under a sleeping curse, who's been waiting a hundred years for the kiss that will wake him. Cursed princes are nothing but ancient history to Fi-until she pricks her finger...

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters -- the only two in Russia -- and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side. And so he initiates the Crown's Game, an ancient duel of magical skill -- the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter...

Clara, Tublock, and many others compete to become one of the ultimate defenders of the Kingdom of Wrenly, a member of the elite Knight Spires.