Publisher's Synopsis
In a society where children are a commodity used to gain influence and power, the hand that rocks the cradle ruled the world. Karrishma Britt has grown up, a child of the Vamkudza, protected and treasured as all the others. She has changed families more often than she can remember as fortunes rise and fall or favors are bought and sold. But other than occasional visits from parents who now claim her vote or trips at their request, she has always lived at the same boarding school, Akademia Balaplutarch. Now, at sixteen, is the oldest girl in her family at the school and responsible for all her siblings, even newly adopted Auilii who has just arrived at Bala. Rumors of disasters surround little Auilii and this is her final chance. Children are precious to the Vamkudza, but one is not more dear than the rest. Adding to her distractions is a baby she found near death while everyone else was sleeping, grants her a peek into secrets she never suspected. Oh, and there's this boy...
