Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood -- those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own. To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver...

With Mare powerless as a prisoner of Maven Calore, the boy she once loved, her rebel Reds continue to organize and train as they prepare for war, while exiled prince Cal sets out to rescue Maven from captivity.

In two revealing prequels to Red Queen, Queen Coriane recounts her heady courtship with the crown prince, the birth of a new prince, Cal, and the potentially deadly challenges that lay ahead for her in royal life. Meanwhile, Captain Farley exchanges coded transmissions with the resistance--and stumbles upon a connection that may prove to be the key to an attack on the Nortan capital: Mare Barrow.