Erin Riha is the author of the debut young adult novel, But for the Mountains.
Arden Thatcher wasn’t meant to be chosen, but chosen she was, and she will now receive Nordania’s highest honor: studying with other elite candidates to become leaders, diplomats, and ambassadors on the world stage. But as she’s paraded around in gown after gown, often in front of the Prime Minister’s son, there’s a secret bubbling beneath the institute’s refined surface, and those who don’t play along may well wind up dead.