Kjara Chedderheart can shear a sheep and milk a cow, but she can't explain the spiral markings on her skin. When they begin to ripple and hum with a strange power that gives her a supernatural sway over her surroundings, it's time to figure it out. Someone more worldly than Kjara might know what she is, but she has no idea.

When a harmless prank goes wrong, Kjara is arrested and forced to serve as the lawkeeper's ward. Now this farmgirl must adjust to city life and search for answers, all whilst keeping her markings and their exceptional power hidden. While her new duties bring her closer to learning the truth of her mysterious skin, her rampant curiosity drops her into the middle of a murderous plot against her sovereign-straight into the sight of its conspirators.

They are more worldly.

And that's why they come for her.