Brilliant inventor Enzo Dragonbane has plenty to hide, including his secret identity as the recently deceased Ruby King's bastard son.

But he isn't half as mysterious as Cullen, the half-elf Enzo finds buried in the depths of the kingdom's caverns.

Cullen doesn't know who he is or how he got to the land of dwarves, and he certainly doesn't know anything about his strange shadow powers. Memories and magic or not, however, he is about to be swept up in the Ruby Kingdom's brewing civil war. The Ashen, a resistance group made up of the exploited lower class, is poised to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the king's death.

Soon Enzo and Cullen find themselves in the midst of a revolution. As they untangle Cullen's past, they discover they have much in common, but if they are to have any hope of a peaceful courtship, they will have to discover the secrets of controlling Cullen's abilities, take sides in the coming fight, and face up to the truth of who they really are.