Mia reclines and flips open the Princess Chronicles, wondering what new developments it has in store, when her eyes leap to a certain line: “Sion Sol Sunkland perished in his youth.” Needless to say, she does not remain recumbent for long. How could this possibly be?!

Though he may be infuriating at times, Sion is an ally, a classmate, and most importantly...a friend. She needs to warn him; if she can’t save him personally—which, let’s face it, is unlikely given her limited faculties—then he can at least save himself. But how? She only has a month before his impending doom. She can’t exactly tell him he’s going to die because a magic book said so. Heck, she can’t tell him anything at all—he’s currently in Sunkland, and she has no business there.

That’s when an aggrieved Esmeralda shows up complaining about a marriage proposal her father insists she accept. Upon hearing that the suitor is a Sunkland noble, the cogs in Mia’s brain begin to turn...