17 year old Alexandra Tyrone is deadly, ruthless in the wake of her parent's death six years ago during the failed Inopian Revolution and the Aventine Underground. Now engaged to the Heir-Imperator, Jacob, Alex is set to become the ruler of Sabina one day. After years and years of repression under Imperator Drogue and his privileged regime, tension is beginning to rise in the country, with the Inopians - the poorer class - rioting with a new sense of hope, the Aventine Underground; a group of rebels determined to bring Drogue and the Imperatory to the ground. Alexandra is sent with her best friend Liam and her fiance to survey the Inopian vicinities and catch any rebels or members of the Aventine Underground; an offer too good for Alex to resist. However, along the way, Alex realises there is more to history than what she ever thought, especially when a young man named Eli crosses her path, an Aventine rebel. Alex must choose between what she knows, and what is right.