A royal physician must choose between oath and the crown.
Elara Whitcombe, the Queen's private physician, is brilliant, wry, and haunted by a past failure. When the sovereign collapses during a procession, Elara uncovers a hereditary wasting hidden by kindness and fear. Political leaders push for decisive control while Elara wrestles with forbidden remedies that could save a life but end her career. Her bedside decisions become public law, friendships reshape into alliances, and the cost of power reveals what duty and love demand.
Whom will she save-the woman who trusted her hands, or the kingdom itself?