Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

Young Kel doesn’t mind his life in the orphanage. He has his friends, he is able to learn, but he realizes that in his crazy world, he doesn’t have power or money. That all changes when one day, soldiers from the royal guard of Castellane come to visit the orphanage. The soldiers look at Kel and take him to the castle. There, they tell him they want Kel to impersonate the young Prince Conor.

He is thrown into a party, and he restrains himself, trying to play the part. After, he is instructed to meet with Conor, who reveals that he was watching the whole time during the party. Conor offers Kel a job, one called the Sword Catcher—a job that is familiar in other parts of the land, but one the king and Conor want to implement. At the age of 10, Conor would receive the Sword Catcher, who by this point will have been trained to act just like the prince, as well as trained in various other areas. The two would live together constantly, and the Sword Catcher is essentially a body double, someone who must be willing to die for the prince. Conor offers the job to Kel, saying that Kel will never starve, and that at a certain point in his life, he will be able to go live a normal life with a very hefty coin in his pocket. Kel agrees.

Fast forward, Kel and Conor have become best friends. They have their duties—Conor preparing to be king, and Kel going through all of his training—yet the two remain close. Conor is grateful for a friend and wants to protect Kel from danger, even though that is technically Kel’s job. Conor has just found out that he needs to get married, and he is already finding that to be difficult. To get away from it all, he and Kel venture into the city.

Enter Lin Caster. She and her friend Mariam met a long time back when Mariam became an orphan and her grandfather rejected her. Mariam is now a dressmaker, but she also has an illness that is slowly killing her, and no one can figure out how to heal her. This is why Lin decided she wanted to become a healer. She is one of the kingdom's first female physicians, and it has been a trial for her. But she loves her job and is still pushed every day to find a cure for Mariam.

Kel is taken in the midst of their journey in the city. He is given a proposition by the Ragpicker King (Andreyen) to become a spy for them—to spy on the royal family (including the King, who they believe is sick) and other high-up officials. Kel doesn’t see how they could ask him that, as he is loyal to Conor and doesn’t want to mess up something good. They in turn tell Kel that they know he is the Sword Catcher for Conor, and that his job right now is to die, so why would he not want to do something else? Kel leaves, but the group who took him claims he will be back.

So Kel goes back to where Conor is—at a bar, and probably with a girl—so Kel goes as well, to find his girl, until they are interrupted and told there is a problem with Conor. He drank too much and is thinking about all of his problems, claiming he has made many mistakes. Kel takes him back to the castle. Conor and Kel want to make plans to travel around before Conor is to marry, but the Queen says that’s just not possible. Kel then starts noticing other girls in the court and is trying to figure out where he fits in now that he is older.

Later, Kel is in a council meeting with Conor. Everyone is discussing Conor’s marriage and debating what would be best politically. It angers Conor, and Kel has to go and comfort him. The King also makes a rare appearance—he seems a bit mad. Kel then decides he wants to be by himself because everything he has ever done has been with or for Conor. He wants a bit of freedom. While he is out, he is attacked and blacks out. Conor owes someone money, and because of that, Kel was attacked—mistaken for Conor. He is beaten up, and someone else brings him back to the castle.

Lin is called in to heal at the castle. This is her first time, but the castle specifically asked for her, hearing that she is the best around town. As she goes in, she finds she is to heal the prince’s cousin. As soon as she gets to the room, she demands attention from everyone—she even orders around the prince. The cousin is in bad shape, but she manages to figure out what is wrong with him and heal him. He even wakes up enough to talk to Lin. Once she is done, the prince tries to give her payment in the form of a brooch—she refuses, not wanting anything from the crown, and the prince sees this as a form of rebellion. When Lin gets back home, she finds out that she is never to go back to the castle to heal again.

Lin then wants answers—she knows that it was not the prince’s cousin. She is then told exactly who he is: a Sword Catcher for the prince. Lin is then brought to the Ragpicker King, who also wants her as a private doctor.

When Kel finally wakes, he is able to tell Conor (and their good friend Joss) what happened to him. Kel then decides to go back to the Ragpicker King and offers some help. He then finds out that Lin is also there, tasked with finding a book that Conor has.

Later, in a fit of madness, the King whips Conor and claims that he is dishonorable. The King’s right-hand man is taken to prison for letting his madness get that bad. Joss, Kel and Conor’s friend, is the one who tells Kel all of this, and the two go get Lin. The Queen allows Lin back, as she wants her son healed. After a long night, she manages to heal him, and when they wake in the morning, Conor has zero scars left. They aren’t able to tell anyone about what Lin has done though—otherwise people would know what the King did to his son, and they want to keep that a secret. As payment, Conor gives her a book—the book she needs to give to the Ragpicker King.

Conor then gets a bride. He was supposed to marry Elsabet Ebelmany, but instead, a child is sent to him. Conor is very upset, and during a party, he gets very drunk and very wild. Overall, not a great impression to the young princess nor her bodyguard. That night, Lin is at the party as well, and Conor secludes her, claims he loves her, then kisses her. Lin declines his advances and tells him he needs to move on.

The next morning, Kel wakes up. He thinks that Lin is in the bed with Conor, but it is someone else. Still, it makes Kel jealous that he thought it was Lin—especially because he has always had, and believes he still does have, a crush on Antonetta, a childhood friend. Kel goes to speak with the King's old right-hand man, who is now in prison. However, when he visits, he pretends to be Conor instead of Kel. The man tells Kel that Conor will be betrayed by his Sword Catcher, and that he will regret ever having one. Kel becomes very uneasy about all of it.

Eventually, Lin makes it back home at the same time Mariam is home. She tries healing her again—something is different! But before she is able to properly examine her, Mariam’s grandfather talks to her. He accuses her of working with the crown prince (he found books that belong to him). He tells her to cut him off, to cut everyone off at the castle. He then takes the book she needs to give to the Ragpickers with him.

On the morning of Conor’s ascension, Conor visits Lin one last time to try and get her to love him. She declines and has to be harsh about it. Conor is upset and leaves very angry. Lin feels a bit sad about the harshness, but knows it’s for the best. She leaves to go tell the Ragpicker King that she found—and lost—the book. He tells her to stay away from the party: you never know what’s going to happen.

Kel is woken up by the Queen. She reads a note from Conor saying that there is no need for him to be at the party, nor his own wedding, and that he’s left town. The Queen then tells Kel that he needs to step up and pretend to be Conor for the party. Kel does, and one thing that he notices to be a bit weird is Antonetta. She seems to have a secret with Conor, and Kel knows nothing about it. The night seems to go on as normal—until Kel realizes the real Conor has snuck back in. Before he can do anything to ruin the fact that there are two of them, Kel grabs Conor. Conor expected them to cancel the party—not make Kel go in his place. Conor says he can fix everything if they switch places. So they do, but then there is a commotion—they are under attack.

Meanwhile, Lin is at a religious event—her last one, as she is to come of age. The ritual is to ask if the girl is the goddess reborn. When it is Lin’s turn, she says no, then walks away—until the priest tells her to come back and asks her again. Lin then responds with yes, she is the goddess reborn. Everyone starts to claim that she needs to be treated as such. She is escorted out, and she sees ships in the harbor.

Back with Kel, the fighting is in full swing. Many court members are being targeted. Kel goes to help Conor. After the fighting—both sides having lost a lot—Kel talks to a member of the council who thinks he is Conor. Once again, the advice for Conor is to not trust anyone. Kel then goes to talk to a high official who claims he knows that Kel is working for the Ragpicker King. Kel says yes, and he is once again given an offer: to start spying for Conor. In essence, it would save Conor. Kel agrees, essentially becoming a double agent. He goes to the Ragpicker King, tells him he won’t work for him, but only with him. He agrees.