This story was a fun read. It had one of my favorite tropes, which is hidden identities, as the heroine must go undercover in order to protect the prince from the dangers of the Black Assassins. The father of the prince hates magic, as he believes a magic-user tried to kill his wife years ago and that magic corrupts whoever uses it. From there we get perspectives from Princess Cyrena, her father, and the prince, and once in a while other important characters. Her father is doing his own investigations to find out where the danger is coming from in the first place, and a lot of the action scenes come from his side of the story. With the prince we get memories he has of Cyrena from his past, along with him grappling with his own beliefs over magic and how his father is dealing with it, along with his feelings on being forced to choose a wife to be his queen. Which brings us to Cyrena's undercover reason for going to the prince. It is said he is going to pick his bride, and while at first he believes he can choose from any of the eligible maidens, soon it becomes clear that his bride was chosen for him and that when his parents said they wanted him to marry for love, they meant they wanted him to fall in love with her. Cyrena's arc is focused on her coming across the prince and them creating a bond and the machinations of those around them as they try and drive them apart as she is not who the prince is supposed to fall in love with. Personally, I would have loved to see more of Princess Cyrena's skills in magic and fighting, plus the story ends on a huge cliffhanger that makes me want to read more but makes the story itself feel a little incomplete, though that is my own feelings on cliffhangers, story arcs are brought to a close, so your millage might vary. Overall, a fun, historic, mystery magic story well worth reading!