Queen Tamara, thrown into a dungeon by the rogue sorceress Gwendolyn, is about to give birth. There's something about her baby that makes Gwendolyn want to possess it, and when Tamara delivers, Gwendolyn will kill her and take the baby.

But Tamara's chambermaid Zenia will not let that happen. At great risk to her life, she rescues Tamara and helps her flee out of the kingdom of Gallea. But in the midst of Fenweald Forest, Tamara dies while giving birth to the baby, and Zenia discovers the terrible secret that makes Gwendolyn want to possess it. She puts her life in peril seeking a way to hide the infant.

A great search for the child begins, with kings and sorceresses and wizards and accursed monsters and village witches all struggling to find and possess the young princess, whom Zenia names Celeste. The fate of three continents depends on who succeeds.