OK, so the last time we saw Cerulia she had just been hit by a ball of fire that knocked her off her horse and into a river whose current swept her away from her friends, who search for her, but eventually have to give her up for dead.
Sure enough, in the third book of this series by Sarah Kozloff, we see Cerulia rescued by a turtle who hands her off to a seal, who complains the whole time, but still managed to get her safely to a pod of dolphins who deliver her to her uncle.
Before we learn she is delivered to her uncle, the book backtracks and shows us what happened to Cerulia’s uncle after he killed his sister and before he rescued Cerulia. He ends up swept up on a deserted island with Queen Cressa’s maid who had hidden in a chest, and a young boy. After years trapped on the island he finally gets a signal from the water god that they can leave the island, so they take off in a raft and get picked up in a ship that ends up also picking up Cerulia, who is so badly injured as to be feverish and barely conscious. They don’t recognize each other, but after Cerulia’s uncle sends her off in another ship to get her best chance at treatment, he puts the pieces together and realizes who she is, appalled that he did not instantly recognize her. But at that point there’s nothing he can do but return home with his bride and their adopted son.
Cerulia is sent to a house of healing where she meets a cast of characters and learns to heal through helping others. When she’s strong enough, she heads home to take back her throne. Fortunately, one of the friends she made at the house of healing manages to hook her up with a guide who can be trusted to take her safely home while teaching her how to defend herself. He also takes her virginity, then decides the next morning it was a mistake. Cerulia’s feelings are hurt, but she was just sleeping with him to try to get over Thalen… unsuccessfully.
Thalen, by the way, manages to get back home to his father who doesn’t even recognize him. He continues to fight the good fight against the Oros. They make progress, but they also lose some valued members of the team, and they still have a ways to go.
Meanwhile, Cerulia’s adopted sister, Percia falls in love with the regent’s son and they get engaged. Matwyck tries everything he can think of to break off the engagement because of the bride’s low social status. First he delays the wedding by a year, hoping their affections will fade, but that doesn’t work. Then he tries to interfere with the letters they send each other to make his son think his fiancée has abandoned him, but his son uses a mailing system Matwyck can’t access. Then he tries to have the girl assassinated, but that fails.
So the wedding goes through and Cerulia just happens to show up at the palace the day before. Her family recognizes her and forgives her for leaving, despite their hurt feelings, and of course she’s invited to the wedding. Unfortunately, the palace is full of guests so they have nowhere left to put her for the night except her very own room, which of course is supposed to be kept empty for the princella’s return.
Nana is still working at the palace and is ordered to wait on the unexpected guest, who she recognizes almost immediately, despite the disguise. Once they’ve been reunited, they start getting Cerulia cleaned up, and as soon as they wash her hair, all her dye comes out. This is a big problem, because to reveal her true identity before she can make it to the throne room to get her royal jewel would be too dangerous, so they have to figure out how to keep her hair hidden while plotting ways to get her past the guards and into the throne room.
Unfortunately, Matwiyck’s fiancée accidentally sees Cerulia’s hair and discovers her true identity, leaving Cerulia no choice but to kill her.
Nana takes care of the body, leaving it in room of another man who hasn’t been seen in a while so Matwyck can only assume they were having an affair and her lover killed her, and he vows revenge, and that’s where the book ends.