TO CALL THE KIGH - was the height of bard's magic. Only those born with the gift could learn to Sing these spirits of earth, air, fire, and water into their bidding, and even someone as gifted as Princess Annice must spend years studying at the Bardic Hall to truly master the art. And for Annice, one of those rare talents able to Sing the elemental spirits from each of the four quarters, the call of magic was too strong to be denied, even if it meant renouncing her royal blood and privileges.

But Annice might have made a different choice if she could have foreseen that ten years after she'd transferred her life and loyalties from the royal palace to the Bardic Hall, she'd find herself fleeing from the King's Guards. For Annice was twice guilty of treason, first for imperiling the order of succession by becoming pregnant, and second for aiding the father of her unborn child, the Duc of Ohrid, to escape the palace dungeons and the sentence of death hanging over his head.