Tess Dombegh has a mission from her Queen: sail across the oceans to the Archipelagos at the bottom of the world and keep a stealthy record of war-like aggressions. Tess has never been a spy, but she's well practiced in the art of keeping secrets. Which is why no one knows that Tess is using this mission as an excuse to search for the last World Serpent-a once-mythical creature with magical abilities-and the last hope for Tess to save her best friend Pathka. But when a villain from Tess's past makes a surprise return, old wounds are cracked open, throwing her mission-both the Queen's and Tess's secret agenda-into complete disarray. What's more, Tess's personal pain is intertwined with the colonial history of the Archipelagos and the mending of her heart threatens the delicate balance of the entire Southlands. She is meant to uncover unrest, but Tess may be starting a war instead.