e fairy tales are real. Because of a powerful spell on the land called the Happy Ending, the same tales are lived over and over again, with a few new additions from time to time. Each of these tales always ends the same way--happily.

Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Sleeping Beauty have begun again, along with a new tale for the land: The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Their courses are set with their endings as sure as their beginnings. Until the Happy Ending breaks.

Confused and frightened, the citizens of Anvara must adjust to a new reality, one where things can go horribly wrong, the familiar tales are not following their usual patterns, and there is no certainty of a happy ending for anyone.

But this is not all. The breaking of the Happy Ending has uncovered a secret that has been waiting to be revealed for thousands of years. And all of this time, Darkness has been waiting for its chance to strike.