After her mother surprisingly agrees, Cecily chooses a girl named May. Although May comes from a poorer background, she is clever and unwilling to be controlled by Cecily, who wonders if perhaps she has made a poor choice. In the meantime, fourteen-year-old Jem is straining to do something for the war effort and is at odds with his mother, while their uncle plays host, shaded by his own dark mystery.
The discovery of the ruins of Snow Castle by May and Cecily prompts Uncle Peregrine to tell a story, a true tale of royalty and betrayal and of sons and mothers and murderous uncles, one that reaches across the centuries and into their present life. May and Cecily also discover two strange boys at the ruins, brothers whose story comes to life as the days pass.
Part historical fiction, part ghost story and part coming-of-age, The Children of the King is a spellbinding story, written by an internationally renowned author.