The king is dead. The heir is missing. All Ernest wants is to be left alone, but it looks as though instead he's going to be crowned king—and forced into a loveless marriage, to a person picked from a list of suitable candidates.Drel is hoping for the life that being royal jester can offer—security, protection, even if that all comes at the sufferance of the king's pleasure. But first Drel must please that king and be granted the job, and King Ernest is not what remotely what Drel expected.