Princess Catherine and her twin brother should never have been born. Were it not for the mysterious physician of the notoriously cruel King Conrad, their mother would have died before giving birth to them. In his desperation to spare their lives, their father rashly promised Conrad that Catherine would become his wife in return for the treatment that would keep the queen alive long enough to safely deliver the twins. The deal struck, Conrad returns to his own country to await Catherine's eighteenth birthday when she will be his. Catherine and her father, though, have no intention of following through on the deal, and send her into hiding abroad, telling Conrad she has died. Alone and isolated, unable to see her family for fear of Conrad discovering the deception, Catherine lives in fear, constantly afraid of discovery until, one day, she meets a man who will change everything. Prince James adores the beautiful stranger with a desperate passion, but he has no idea of the secrecy that surrounds her nor the danger that she is in. All he knows is that he cannot live without her, but will his choice be taken away from him? A princess cannot remain hidden forever...