Princess Ash, a young teen, is looked down upon because of her disability—she has a crushed leg and uses a cane—and her long absence from Haven, the capital, to which she’s only recently returned. Even her once-beloved older brother, crown prince Lucen, has not been welcoming. Splinter, a squire, is disliked because most people think she’s a girl, and girls aren’t supposed to be squires. Splinter, who does not feel like a girl or boy, is regularly harassed and bullied by other squires, with Lucen taking the lead. After Ash declares her support for Splinter, Splinter swears to protect the princess. The queen has asked Ash to befriend two daughters of a noble family suspected of working against the crown to spy on their household. Ash does so with increasing reluctance: She and Splinter both like her new friends. Then Ash is kidnapped from the palace. While Ash looks for ways to escape from her captors, who are taking her north, Splinter sets out to find Ash, accompanied by guilt-ridden Lucen, now grappling with the repercussions of his awful behavior toward both his sister and Splinter. A story that successfully hits all the notes for middle grade fantasy offers just the right amount of action, tension, and political intrigue along with appealing (mostly white) main characters and a satisfying resolution that will have readers eager for book 2 in the planned trilogy.