On Syth's very first night as a bodyguard for the kingdom's naughtiest prince, tragedy strikes. The ensuing political upheaval sends Syth on the run with the prince she's supposed to protect. Vawn is a playboy, careless and lecherous, with a pretty face and a teasing tongue. He's also pathetically incapable of protecting himself. As the two of them flee from enemies and try to decide whom to trust, they become entangled in more ways than one... and they team up with a very intelligent, occasionally irritating magic carpet.

Vawn is an artificient, gifted with the ability to paint special glyphs on fingernails, a technique that enables a person to harness their living energy for magical purposes. Without his gift, Syth doesn't stand a chance of surviving the journey ahead, and neither does he. To reach safety and reclaim what has been taken, Syth must trust the prince not only with her potential magic, but with something much more precious.