Early winter is usually a boring time for Princess Ennette and her ladies-in-waiting, as her father the king and most of the men at court depart for the annual hunt. The only thing he's more interested in than the hunt is marrying the unwilling Poleen. Of his suffering people, the king does not care, leaving Ennette to struggle alone to help them. All she wants is a stable kingdom and to be able to openly love Lady Mawri, but with every passing day those dreams seem increasingly hopeless.

Meanwhile, soldier Nataneal just wants to be left alone to live his life on his terms. In a last desperate bid for freedom, he summoned a dragon to take him away to a rumored place in the forest where people can live in peace and happiness—and failed. Now he sits in the dungeon, awaiting trial for the crime of impersonating a man.

And that's only the start of the trouble plaguing the royal castle, and all the unhappy people in desperate need of a dragon...