When Lyara, an artist with a fickle muse, falls for a royal soldier, she’s inspired to make her dreams of social change a reality. Avaron’s poor border towns live under constant threat from monsters her fellow socialites know only from text books. The reigning king refuses to defend his people, so she devises a scheme that might see her gallant soldier wear the crown. Failure means more senseless death—or an even more dastardly man taking the throne. Lyara’s optimistic. After all, it takes an artist’s touch to paint the portrait of a king.