In the city of flowers, anything is possible, but nothing is real.

In Kamali's hometown, everything is made of her magic. Every home, every plant, and even the sun are part of an illusion her family cast a century prior to protect the city from the royal family. As the last illusionist in town, she's entrusted with keeping this magic alive-and keeping it a secret. However, her powers are running out and draining her life energy. She only has a couple years left to live, and King Aleksander is looking for her. When his army searches the streets and attacks innocent civilians to find the source of Kamali's magic, she knows it's time to fight back.

If she wants to protect herself and her people, she must kill the king before her powers run out.

But the king has secrets too. Though his family has killed magicians over the years, the young king depends on the town's remaining magic to survive. When Princess Saira marries into the royal family, she soon realizes Aleksander is only taking advantage of her and her powers are all he needs. But Saira is running a con game: she's no magician at all-in fact, she's not even a real princess-and before her true identity is exposed, she must uncover the king's secrets and decide whose side she's really on.