In the Empire, a once great nation reduced to a fraction of its former glory, one of the biggest rules is to not oppose the natural order of things. But when exposed to a mysterious text bookworm Evelyn Lee becomes the antithesis of this, a Witch. Forced to flee the headsman's axe with her own brother on her trail, she finds herself sinking into a morass of the arcane and, worse, the flailing gasps of a country attempting to assert its influence over its neighbors. As she is forced to contend with her newfound powers, she must also balance her loyalties between her old home and the companions she meets.