As he turns nineteen, Nick Kyngeston seems to have the world. He’s the heir to one of the most important kingdoms on Caperton Island. He’s engaged to the girl he’s loved all his life. He has wealth and looks and prestige. Unfortunately, all of it is supposed to belong to his twin brother, who drowned years ago, leaving Nick with a life he doesn’t want and memories that haunt him.

Anselm, a foreign stable boy, appears just as Nick is thrust into his new role as the adult heir, a commoner who knows nothing of noble life and propriety and makes Nick laugh. Then Anselm saves Nick’s life, nearly at the expense of his own, and they realize someone is trying to kill the heir to the throne, which puts Nick, his fiancée Cecily, and everyone else on the Kyngeston estate in danger.

While trying to thwart the danger, Nick and Anselm seek answers in a locked garden filled with mysteries and secrets from the past. But the tangle of secrets will lead them to discoveries that will change the lives of everyone on Caperton Island and could throw the future of the island into chaos.