When her father dies nobly in battle fourteen-year-old Thirrin becomes Queen of the Icemark, a tiny kingdom forever caught between dangerous neighbours. Thirrin must raise an army to protect her people from seemingly invincible Imperial invaders. Her search for allies takes her beyond her northern borders, to former enemies in The-Land-of-the-Ghosts and onwards to the frozen Hub-of-the-World. But can she save her kingdom in time?