Summary

In the Prologue, the narrator explains that magic is illegal in all four of the kingdoms of this world. The people of the four kingdoms often carried out sentences against anyone suspected of witchcraft (and their families). Some were sentenced without even having a trial. The four rulers were in agreement that magic was illegal though King Champion XIV of the Southern Kingdom decreed that witches were sentenced to life in prison rather than being executed. His attitude stemmed from the fact that his mother was beheaded because someone suspected her of having an interest in magic. Shortly after her death, his father (King Champion XIII) married another woman, making some question the execution. King Champion XIV put a lot of energy into destroying his father's legacies. Now King Champion was growing old, and he did not put a lot of energy into...