Above are the brand new maps for the changed world of the Lost Continent (Elenith, a new island in the Asriel Archipelago, should be called the Thirteenth Isle).

New readers: This is the third book in a series. It could probably be read independently (though with some confusion) but is definitely better read after the first and second books.

Returning readers: I have added a new plot line to Queens & Liars (and also removed the segment where Layla saves Talia at the cost of letting 30,000 soldiers escape). You can re-read the chapters that include this plot line, listed below, or just read the quick summary I've included below that. Finally, Gemma's name has been changed to Scarlet.

—The War to Come (first chapter in Part Three—change near the end)

—Marble Walls (Immediately afterwards)

—The Prince (after Siege & Slaughter)

—A Dangerous Conversation (after Bloodbath and a few chapters into Part Three).

—Forgeries (Immediately following A Dangerous Conversation)

—One Last Night (Chapter Forty-Nine, After the Queen's Song, a third of the way through Part Three)

—Home Again (Immediately following One Last Night)

—The Army (Chapter Fifty-Five, after Lysandra's Second Rescue and before the Wolf, midway through Part 3, change at the very end).

—Goodbye (Chapter Fifty-Four, change at the end)

—Firelight (one of the final chapters, minor change in Lysandra's P.O.V.).

   The plot line begins just before the attacks on Topaz, Citrine and Zerena. Maia Charlize Swallow (Layla's sister) is sent to alert Lysandra in Crimsith the attacks are beginning and give her some details—as she is the only one who can reach the capital due to the seasonal storms in the usually calm Asriel Strait. She has an illusion placed on her face to hide her identity. However, when she arrives in the city she gives herself away and is pursued by guards. She manages to escape them and find Lysandra, but the city is locked down and she can't get out and back into battle. As guards are searching everywhere for her, Lysandra takes her into the palace where she can keep an eye on her. Maia protests but eventually agrees and poses as a servant.

   She meets Aaron, who provides her with numerous textbooks when she tells him (in veiled terms) how her education stopped when she was thirteen. They become friends, but Maia (under the name of Evelyn) eventually refuses to speak with him due to his work for his mother and refusal to help people in need in her empire. Aaron, distraught, tells her he only made gold with the misguided hope that his mother would lower taxes as she no longer needed them. He also shows her a project he's been working on—a machine that makes forgeries of conscription releases, pardons and mining/Draining exemptions. She forgives him and their friendship continues.

  Lysandra finds a way to get Maia out of the city—but it means never seeing Aaron again. She goes to tell him that she's leaving, but he invites her to go to a visiting orchestra with him—knowing how much she misses music—and then go to a masquerade on the night she is due to escape. She agrees, knowing she will have little time to rush back to where she is due to meet Lysandra.

   They go to the orchestra, but rather than spending the rest of the time at the masquerade, Maia climbs up to a rooftop and invites him to join her. They are chased by guards but escape and dance on another roof. She tells him she's leaving; he kisses her and asks her to stay, but she cannot. She asks him to flee with her, but he refuses. The illusion fades away and he sees her true self. She tells him that what she felt for him was real, but she has to go.

   The guards catch up with them and Maia is forced to flee and find the rendezvous spot with Lysandra. She is smuggled out of the city by Taryn Gold and reaches the rebellion. Aaron is betrayed but believes in her still, thinking the rebels have lied to her. When Silvera falls, both wish to see one another again, and Aaron forgives her.