Erika's life is turned upside down when she's kidnapped, but she knows what she saw-three bodies had shown up in the Old City trash heaps. She is determined to get to the bottom of it. When an unexpected twist leaves her as a lady's maid for the King's daughter, Erika finds herself smack in the middle of a story-line which could lead her back home. She dives at the challenge, but the tables quickly turn and the girl finds herself questioning her new friend's intentions and fighting to save her life.Duci is not only a Princess but an Idle-one of those wealthy enough to enhance themselves with metal body parts. She wants to rule as queen, but the City hasn't been governed by a woman in generations. True to tradition, her title will pass to the wealthiest male in the City if she does not marry before her father dies and she will become a banished pauper. Determined not to marry one of the gold-hungry nobles, Duci decides to devise a risky plan but, when she is discovered by her new lady's maid, an unlikely friendship forms, and the woman is forced do something far more frightening than even the secret she's been holding to her chest-she has to learn to trust.
