A conniving congressman, the rival kingdom of Ame, bandits, a rampaging king, a mysterious masked assassin- The Emeral Kingdom is flawed, as any nation. Many men and women contribute to these flaws, Gustaaf, an (by all means reckless though) expert assassin trained under a mysterious mentor, takes a job above his normal life of stabbing, cutting, and otherwise mutilating, getting inexorably involved in a plot to take the throne. Madelief, a farmgirl from the slums of the city outside of the great walls of Emeral, wants nothing more to settle her life back to normalcy after all hope is lost, but she soon finds herself to be caught up by the vortex that is the court.

After Jasper's dear friend, Dawn Dopler, a very intelligent girl, rips herself out of existence with her own invention, he must figure out a way to bring her back. It will not be easy, as the government wishes to get their hands on the only link Jasper has to Dawn, and he'll take it at any cost.