Christopher Evergild, like his father and his grandfathers before him, had trained all his life for one thing: to be the Royal Champion of Abernal and maintain the peace with the strength of his arm. Then the king dies at his wedding feast, and his heir is a woman exiled to a mountain keep as an infant-a woman reputed to be so hideous only trolls can bear to look at her. Plots to replace her sprout before the king's corpse is cold, but Chris's duty is clear. How was the Royal Champion of Abernal to know that making sure the Ugly Princess gets her crown will take away the reason for his existence and change his life forever?