The year: 1887.
The place: Cambridge, England.
Elinor, an emancipated young woman for her time, wishes to study at Girton College, the first 'ladies' college' at Cambridge University. However, a gruesome encounter with a gigantic snake monster – invisible to other people – gives her access to a completely different institute: Royston College, a mages' lodge disguised as part of the university, with many rules and even more secrets.
Elinor is the first woman to become a student at an academic institution that teaches those with a gift for the Arcane. ]
Among her fellow students are not just humans, but also hybrid beings with a mixed human-Fey heritage: unpredictable and dangerous.
In a rigidly male world, Elinor has to prove that she is at least as good as her fellow students in the face of considerable discrimination. She is also hunted by the power-obsessed summoner of the serpent monster, while at the same time a group of inquisitors arrives in Cambridge to wipe out anything they deem demonic (Fey) or heretical (magically gifted).
