Cecilia knows she is not just another peasant girl; she's actually the true princess, in hiding until the forces that killed her parents are vanquished. A commoner named Desmia is on the throne as a decoy.

As she gets older, Cecilia finds it harder to study statesmanship and palace protocol secretly at night, and then by day to pretend she has nothing on her mind other than scrubbing gruel stains from her apron.

Cecilia knows it's time to take charge. Along with her best friend, Harper, she flees to the capital city, determined to reclaim her throne and face the danger head on. But when they reach the Palace of Mirrors, they discover complications: Princess Desmia believes an entirely different version of the story.

Acclaimed author Margaret Peterson Haddix returns to the charmed world of Just Ella, where a princess-in-hiding and a pretender to the throne discover that nothing is as it appears.