Keralie Corrington is a talented pickpocket in the kingdom of Quadara. She steals under the guidance of her mentor Mackiel, who runs a black market selling their bounty to buyers desperate for what they can't get in their own quadrant. For Quadara is a nation divided into four regions, each strictly separated from the other, and each with their own queen.
When a routine theft goes horribly wrong, Keralie discovers the item she's stolen from a messenger contains instructions to murder the four queens. Hoping that discovering the intended recipient will reveal the culprit - valuable information that she can barter with - Keralie teams up with Varin Bollt, the messenger she stole from, to complete his delivery and uncover the would-be murderer. But with Keralie and Varin each keeping secrets - and the lives of the queens hanging in the balance - everything is at stake, and no one can be trusted.