The Kings' List by Jade Presley

Here is a summary with spoilers for The Kings' List by Jade Presley

Rylee Gray, an Ashlander from the kingdom's lowest class, enters the palace during the Choosing to search for her missing sister, Erin. Instead, she is unexpectedly selected as the mate of all four princes—Jax, Kal, Axl, and Pierce. During the final Athanry ceremony, Rylee drinks an immortality elixir that has been poisoned. The princes save her life by sacrificing their own magical abilities and transferring their powers into her. But it still leaves her body lifeless.

Jax has been wandering the palace, constantly worrying about his mate, wondering what else can be done. It has been a week, and Rylee shows no signs of waking up. On top of that, all the princes are now piecing together what happened on the ceremony night; her sister Erin is the one to blame, and Erin is one of the main leaders of the rebellion, who leads a group called the Faders. It is all confirmed when a soldier comes to the princes to let them know that the rebellion has entered their land. The boys have to leave, though they don’t want to leave their mate.

While unconscious, Rylee experiences a vision in a temple where the goddess Evaluna warns her that a war is coming, that she has an important role to play, and that she needs to figure out how to get to her mates. Rylee then believes that she is in a dream, jumps off a cliff, and luckily wakes up in Jax’s bed. She finds out that her princes are out fighting and runs to help them. Rylee struggles to control the immense magical power inside her that her mates gave her and repeatedly attempts to return each prince's abilities. But once the fighting ends, all Rylee and her mates can think about is reuniting and being with each other. Eventually, they learn that Rylee can only transfer their powers during moments of extreme emotion or danger.

After her reunion with her princes, Rylee is able to have a reunion with everyone else in the palace. But it hits her hard that she will have to be Queen to these people, and it scares her. On top of that, she is having a hard time sleeping because she is having nightmares of her sister Erin stabbing her. Jax tries to help, but they talk things through.

Rylee then believes she can start focusing on finding her sister again when she and the princes are summoned to see the kings. The kings announce the Kings' List, a series of political, diplomatic, and personal trials that Rylee and the princes must complete to prove they are worthy to rule. The trials will force them to work together while navigating rival noble families, the Royal Authority Council, and constant attempts to undermine them. The kings are planning on making this very difficult for them all. Even during a party, none of their fathers are willing to budge or help with their preparations. During this time, Rylee also gains some allies, Ivy and Layce, two other girls who were chosen in the past to be the princes' mates but didn’t get to continue; they are a constant help for Rylee in her preparations.

Marguerite is one of the officials who will test Rylee, and the kings put her through a map test. The boys pass easily, but thanks to Rylee’s low-level education, she fails. She feels embarrassed but gives a good speech that this is something she can easily learn. The boys decide that she now needs to start training on all of their powers. For the next few weeks, she is passed from prince to prince to learn how to master each one of their powers. It takes time, but she is able to do so; it also gives her a chance to get closer to each one of her mates, in both a physical and mental way.

The next trial takes place. Rylee is separated from her princes. The kings make the princes drink an elixir, telling them if they don’t, they can always be replaced. Rylee, not being able to see them but able to sense them, knows something is wrong. She runs to them and finds that the trial is in full force. The kings' enemy is there with her princes, and she must negotiate for them to come back. She tries, but the enemy says she must pick one of them to sacrifice; Rylee can’t, so she chooses herself. The enemy likes that as an answer, but the kings don’t. They then try to make her kill one of her own people, which she and the princes all refuse to do; for everyone watching, it shows that they are all unified. They pass their test.

The five get to celebrate by being together for the night, only for their lives to be flipped around the next day. They are all to be separated and go to different parts of their kingdoms and work on strengthening treaties. Rylee is to go with Pierce, but it means she has to be away from her other mates for weeks. Their treaty goes well until they demand that one of them stay back for a month to solidify that they are serious. Pierce stays back, and Rylee is once again devastated to have to leave her mate behind.

When Rylee gets home, the kings are impressed with what she accomplished. None of her other mates are back, so she has to find stuff to do. Ivy and Layce tell her about a new illness that is going around, and Rylee feels the need to go visit her childhood home, where she finds Erin’s journal (and cat). The journal was recently put there, meaning Erin was there recently. Soon, Erin comes to find Rylee, but things get out of hand when other rebellion members see Rylee and try to throw her in prison. Luckily, a few of her mates are back at this point (all but Jax), and they are able to save her and bring her back to the castle.

They are all able to regroup and share what they learned while being away, though they are still waiting for Jax. As they investigate the kingdom's problems, the group uncovers evidence that historical records have been deliberately erased and that someone has been hiding the true history of Lumathyst. They learn about siphons, individuals capable of draining magical power from others, and discover that the drug Tox is being distributed to strengthen certain fighters while destabilizing the kingdom. Ivy helps develop an antidote to Tox, and Erin secretly provides a sample that allows the cure to be completed, even though she continues working. Through Rylee’s powers, they confirm that Baydel's brother, a powerful siphon from Erithmore, has been directing many of the kingdom's problems. He manipulates the Faders, spreads Tox throughout Lumathyst, and seeks to weaken the royal family by draining magical power. Baydel is revealed to have made secret agreements with his brother, and the kings are exposed as having concealed information and contributed to the kingdom's decline through their own actions and decisions. The conflict is no longer simply between the crown and the Faders but part of a larger effort to destabilize the entire kingdom.

On Voting Day, the Royal Authority Council gathers to determine the kingdom's future, but the meeting is interrupted by a large-scale Fader attack led by siphons who begin draining the powers and lives of the kingdom's defenders. Rylee fully embraces the combined magic she carries and uses the powers of all four princes to defeat the attackers and protect both her allies and the citizens of Lumathyst.

After the battle, Rylee and the princes confront the remaining conspirators, including Baydel, the kings, and Erin. Rylee chooses mercy where possible while holding those responsible accountable for their actions. Erin's future remains uncertain. Rylee and her princes are still waiting for the return of Jax until one day Rylee receives a gift. Inside the box is a finger, clearly Jax’s, with the tattoo that symbolized their love on the finger. Rylee is angered and ready to find her mate.

Meanwhile, Jax has been tormented and chained up for days now. He has found out that it was his uncle who was behind everything. Eventually, his uncle arrives and tells him his next set of plans, all to do with tormenting and hurting his mate, Rylee.