Nineteen year-old Evie Moon wears red ribbons, and everyone in Verenth knows their meaning. Evie expects nothing more from life than the struggle against hunger, violence, and unfortunate diseases, until a chance encounter with a Leaf changes her world forever. Leaves are inherently magical, and even those who cannot wield magic themselves can see its light in others. But if Evie does have that light, how can she learn to use it? The magi of Verenth have long neglected their sworn oath to seek out magical potential, limiting their teaching to the rich and high-born alone. Evie is determined...

A chance encounter in the streets of Corenth reveals that Roan Palion bears the magelight, and opens his eyes to the power and beauty of magic. His only link to his old life is his twin sister Lia, but she is discovering a wider world of her own. Lia is offered the chance to train in the art of the confisieres, Vertiga's famous sweet makers, and finds unlikely love in the highest circles of society. Their studies take them far from their former lives, but their new world is more wondrous and more dangerous than they know. With strange and terrible magic running wild across the land, will Lia...