The story opens with a description of the fates of two young princes, iaras, a prince from the impoverished kingdom of Anjou, and the spoiled princess of a wealthy empire, theodorian. The young princes are traded in exchange for each other as hostages. The princess of the wealthy empire is determined to marry the prince of an impoverished kingdom. The prince of the poor kingdom is determined not to marry her. The two princes meet as young royal princes and are exchanged in a war of politiks to maintain their fragile peake. The king of the rich empire feels the wrath of the angnois, the king who sees through her vulnerabilities, virtuous and gentle, and so he sees through the princess's vulnerabilities and sees that the princess is virtuous and will marry another person. A princess must behave like a princess should her brother be a canary, and she must learn to be the wife of another person should she bear no resemblance to her brother. She will not be able to escape the prison of the king, even if she were to become a companion to another persons