He saw magic when he first opened his eyes, and nothing else ever compared. But the king is old and he an only child. Decisions must be made. Important, hard decisions.

No one expects much of him in regards to anything but magic. Until the cube. Until it teaches Marcus what life means for people not born into nobility, and that all his skill with the arcane does not make him immortal. That running from problems does not, in fact, make them go away.

Marcus Sepsimus Lannoy—Marcus to the friends he does not have—touches something he should not have on the day he planned to run from his problems.