Warning! Late Arrival Spoilers abound for previous books in the Starship's Mage series.
As the celebration of the victory at Legatus cools, a shuttle accident claims the lives of the Mage-King of Mars and his heir. The Crown and the Mountain fall to the Mage-King's daughter, sixteen-year-old Kiera Alexander. She recalls Damien Montgomery, her father's First Hand, to stand as her Lord Regent.
The pair are unprepared to govern but are thrust into the heart of Protectorate politics as the Mage-King had left behind everything from an unfinished war to an incomplete new Constitution.
Even as they get a handle on the list Kiera's father left them, Damien is grimly certain of one thing: when it comes to the deaths of Kings, he doesn't believe in accidents.
This book provides examples of:
- All for Nothing: Winton saved all of the Keeper's data and yet ends up destroying it to keep it out of Damien's hands.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Winton achieves a Protectorate with a vastly increased military readiness and Damien Montgomery as its acting head of state. He dies in the process but is overall satisfied.
- Blackmail: Councilor Granger was subject to this for his role in attempting to assassinate Damien Montgomery.
- Corrupt Politician: The Council comes off as this because they attempt to remake the Constitution so its membership will all be done by appointment.
- Democracy Is Flawed: Damien isn't going to make a universal democracy, his boss is a monarch after all, but insists the lawmakers are all elected.
- Did Not See That Coming:
- Damien points out that the Council agreed to many concessions that they didn't think they'd have to follow through on because they believed he'd be overthrown or killed. Damien points out they, nevertheless, agreed and thus are bound by them.
- Winton genuinely did not imagine that Damien would be able to track down his Cool Ship home base and wipe out most of his forces.
- Driven to Suicide: Winton kills himself rather than be captured and spill his secrets.
- Evil Regent: Resoundingly averted with Damien as he is about as good as humanly possible in the setting.
- The Good Chancellor: Damien becomes this when he's appointed Lord Regent of Mars.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: The Council agreed to a lot of concessions to King Desmond because they believed he was going to be killed due to all the gathering enemies he's made.
- Karma Houdini: Councilor Granger gets off very lightly for his role in a regicide. He's put under house arrest at his palatial estate for the rest of his life in exchange for his help squashing nemesis.
- Killed Off for Real: Demond the Third and his son, the heir to the throne, are killed off in a shuttle accident.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Winton and Nemesis attempted this with Desmond the Third's death but the fact both he as well as his heir were killed together raised Damien's suspicions.
- Meaningful Funeral: Desmond and his son receive a state funeral that his granddaughter is very unhappy about the pageantry of.
- Regent for Life: Damien intends to be Regent only for three years, which is almost certainly not what Winton wanted.
- Renegade Splinter Faction: Nemesis is revealed to be one of these for the Keepers.
- Stalker with a Test Tube: Doctor Kurtz wants both Kiera and Damien to have children to preserve the Rune Wright bloodline at all costs.
- Wife Husbandry: Damien points out that breeding an heir from his and Kiera Alexander, even if achieved with Uterine Replicator, will look like this.
