Weakness will betray.

But acceptance will free you.

Prince Troy lived a life his peers envied. But they didn't know he was still haunted by memories from the Quake. They didn't know he was living in the shadows of his older brothers. Nor did they know his father was ashamed of him for being different.

After being humiliated by his brothers for sticking up for a new slave, this underdog now has something to prove to his father and himself: that he is strong, confident, and fearless. He's no longer competing with his brothers at home but a classroom full of privileged boys eyeing to be number one. Being number one will place him in the coveted school that will prepare him for the role handpicked for him. For Troy, it could finally mean winning the love and admiration of his father. But Troy is unaware that some of the most powerful lessons he will ever learn will extend beyond the four walls of the Grammaticus. What he's about to learn these next few weeks could shape him into the person he was meant to be or completely break him.