Twenty years ago, a war tore apart the nations of Laitmea, Haputa, and Onkay, while Mer was protected. The war ended when three orphans from Haputa killed Laitmea's king, Darin, and gave the kingdom to his son Dowlin. Now these orphans are Queen Trill, Lord Redge, and his wife Quip. Darin's relatives were reinstated, including his niece Princess Ettalara. Peace has been established. Now, the country of Onkay is in the grips of a famine, and many citizens are forced to leave. A teenage girl, Katjia, and her family seek shelter in Laitmea. Meanwhile, Mer is in turmoil. The country is ruled by ruthless pirates. Their king believes that they should establish peace with their neighbors, but he is unaware that his most trusted advisor and his niece Veena are working against him. They think that the pirates should overthrow Laitmea's government. Veena has contact with a traitor in Laitmea, and has been planning a coup. Veena and her Uncle travel to Laitmea for a diplomatic meeting, but Veena actually means to seduce a prince, Redge the younger, and use him against his parents. While in the capital, Veena meets other royal children; twins Marley and Mayzin. The three of them then meet Katjia, and Marley offers her family a place to stay. Her family sets up camp in the palace courtyard, while Mer's diplomat deliberately wrecks his meeting with the king and queen. Later, Marley and Katjia see the diplomat and Veena sneaking away. They use Katjia's horse to follow them as far as the forest, where they are attacked by bandits. In the confusion, the diplomat is killed. Veena then reveals that she arranged for this, and that the lead bandit is her lover, Carsten. They take Marley and Katjia prisoner. The pirate king wants to return them to Laitmea, but Veena makes sure that Laitmea doesn't know where they are. In the capital, Katjia's brother Kanara awakes to find that her horse had returned without her, and alerts the royal family that Katjia and Marley are missing. Three of Marley's sisters, Mayzin, Jessimin, and Pippy, suspect that Redge may have something to do with the disappearances. They follow him and discover that he is burning letters. They rescue his mail from the furnace, and learn that he is going to use pirates to attack the capital and make himself King. The three sisters then go to their Aunt Ettalara's house and alert her to the danger. Marley escapes from his cell, and is caught listening in on Veena and Carsten. Veena decides he's too much trouble, and takes him and Katjia to a distant island, unaware that the island is home to a dragon. Katjia and Marley feed the dragon scraps of cheese, and it flies them back to Laitmea. When they arrive, they learn that Marley's sisters are away, and there has been an assassination attempt on cousin Addmaleta. Kanara was able to stop the attack and save the princess, but everyone is too distracted to listen to Marley, who had learned that seducing Redge was only part of Veena's plot. Redge's pirate attack is only a distraction. Veena wants to raid the palace and steal important documents in the mayhem. Marley and Katjia decide to beat her to it and trick the pirates. They make sure they are spotted with several stacks of paper, and lead the pirates away from the capital. They go to Ettalara's home to meet Marley's sisters. There, they hear that the King and Queen figured out Veena's plot, and are coming to sort things out. When they arrive the estate is already surrounded. Veena seizes the papers, only to discover that the real documents are still in the Keep, and she has led her army after a stack of menus. They learn that Redge has been apprehended, and the plot stopped. Quip and the others discovered that the assassins were all former employees of Ettalara's. They confront her, and learn that she was Veena's contact. She had concocted the plot to put her son on the throne. Quip kills Ettalara, and everyone involved is imprisoned or hung for their crimes.
