How It All Goes Down
Meet Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, a princess from the mysterious land of Kildenree, who'd rather hang out with her horse or a bunch of birds than real humans. Why is this you ask? Because she can speak to them, of course.
Ani has the gift of animal-speaking, which might sound exciting to you or me, but is a little mysterious to the people in her kingdom, who would much rather she have the gift of people-speaking like her mom (a.k.a. the queen). When Ani's dad suddenly dies from falling off his horse while riding with her one day, the queen sends Ani off to Bayern, the neighboring country, to be the princess bride for their prince. At first Ani's a little peeved, but then she decides to make the most of it.
On the journey to Bayern though, her maid in waiting and guards have different ideas. Sure, Talone and a couple others are trustworthy, but her bestie-turned-enemy—Selia—turns Ungolad, Terne, and the rest of the guards against her. They steal her fancy clothes, crown, and identity, and kill anyone who stands in their way. Threatened, Ani runs away and hides in the woods, asking the animals where to go next.
Eventually Ani finds a cabin and gets some help from Gilsa, the woman inside, and her son, Finn. She doesn't tell them who she really is, but they help her get back on her feet and take her to the Bayern kingdom anyway.
The plan? Ani will go to the king and tell him who she really is and what Selia did, but when she gets there, she sees Selia hanging out with the Bayern girls, and she flips out. Who will believe that she is the princess over a people-speaker like Selia? Instead Ani takes a job as a goose girl since she can speak with animals and all.
Ani settles into her life as a goose girl, learning what their honks and yips mean to one another. Conrad, the goose boy, finds her a bit weird, but she makes friends with Enna and Razo who also work in the palace—she tells them crazy stories about talking with the wind and horses that eat gold, and they think she's cool.
One day she meets a palace guard named Geric and strikes up a friendship with him; he thinks she's funny (and a little quirky). Before long, the two of them are major crushing on one another. Sounds perfect, right? Until Geric randomly dumps her by sending her a note that he can't love her. Um, okay.
Even though Ani misses the finer things of life like warm baths and soft beds, she's pretty happy just being a goose girl, until she hears that Bayern is going to war with her home country Kildenree. Why? Selia's convinced the king that Kildenree is planning an attack of their own, but really, she just wants to make sure no one calls her bluff on her little identity theft. Now Ani knows she has to do something—it's no longer just about her anymore; her family could die because of this secret.
First Ani gets her friends—Enna, Razo, and Conrad—to help her storm the palace and tell the king the truth about whom she really is. Of course, Selia denies the whole thing, but Geric figures out a clever way of eavesdropping on the wannabe princess. Busted.
Once Selia is found out and captured, Ani gets back to the palace, where she uncovers a bit of very good news: Geric isn't a palace guard; he's Prince Charming looking for a bride. Now that he's available and Ani's the princess, the two can get hitched and live happily ever after.