Mona arrives at the bakery and discovers the body of a dead girl on the floor by the ovens.

Inquisitor Oberon arrives, accuses Mona of murder based on a magical taint near the body, and orders the constables to take her to the palace.

The Duchess gently overrules Oberon and orders Mona released, leaving her to walk home alone in the rain.

Knackering Molly and her bone horse Nag escort Mona through the dangerous Rat's Nest and warn her about the Spring Green Man.

Spindle, a 10-year-old street thief, tackles Mona and demands to know what happened to his sister Tibbie.

The Spring Green Man attacks Mona in the bakery kitchen; she escapes by throwing Bob the sourdough starter in his face.

Mona and Spindle flee constables hunting them and escape by floating down a canal on magically animated bread slices.

Oberon posts wanted posters accusing Mona of treason and announces a wizard registry, forcing most remaining magickers to flee Riverbraid.

Mona and Spindle sneak into the palace by climbing up through the Duchess's garderobe.

The Duchess shocks Mona by admitting she already knows about Oberon's treason but has been too frightened to act.

Elgar stabs Master Gildaen in the magic workroom, and Gildaen dies after using his last strength to protect Mona.

The Duchess rallies her loyal guards, confronts Oberon in his chambers, and exiles him from the city.

The Duchess tells Mona the Carex army is two days away, and Mona agrees to defend the city with giant bread golems.

The Carex breach the city gate, and Knackering Molly sacrifices her life to raise every dead horse in Riverbraid, routing the invaders.

The Duchess declares Mona the Royal Wizard of Riverbraid and awards her medals at a public ceremony.

When Mona finds a dead girl in her aunt's bakery, she is falsely accused of murder by Inquisitor Oberon and dragged before the Duchess, who releases her. After meeting Knackering Molly and then Spindle, Mona is attacked by the Spring Green Man and forced into hiding, hunted by the very constables meant to protect her. With no adults willing to act, she and Spindle break into the palace and confront the Duchess, spurring her to rally her guards and exile Oberon — though the city's last loyal wizard, Gildaen, is killed in the process. Days later the Carex army arrives and Mona, now the city's only remaining wizard, devises and executes a defense using giant bread golems. When the golems begin to fail, Knackering Molly sacrifices her life to raise every dead horse in Riverbraid and rout the invaders. In the aftermath, the Duchess honors Mona as the Royal Wizard of Riverbraid for her extraordinary courage.

The core events of Mona's fight to save her city.

Aunt Tabitha sends Uncle Albert for the constables and asks Mona to bake sweet buns for them after the body is discovered.

Mona brings a gingerbread man to life to entertain and disperse the crowd of curious customers gathered outside the bakery.

On the palace carriage ride, Mona concludes this is the second worst day of her life, after the day her parents died.

Mona meets the legendary Lord Ethan, the Golden General, during her palace audience and is immediately and thoroughly smitten.

Mona and Spindle sneak into the bakery at midnight, where the gingerbread man crawls under a table to retrieve Tibbie's silver bracelet.

Lord Ethan leads his army out of Riverbraid to respond to reports of Carex raids on the outlying towns and farms.

A fellow magicker approaches Mona on the street and urges her to flee the city; Mona refuses to leave Aunt Tabitha.

Hiding in a church bell tower, Mona discovers her magic works far better when applied to raw, unbaked dough.

A deaf priest inadvertently inspires Mona to seek the Duchess's help when he suggests she appeal to a higher power.

Aunt Tabitha arrives at the palace, takes command of the kitchens from the difficult head cook, and helps Mona prepare for the siege.

Mona feeds Bob fifty sacks of flour to multiply the sourdough starter into six barrels of burning defensive ammunition for the walls.

Jars of Bob are hurled from the city wall during the first Carex assault, burning the invaders and forcing them to retreat.

Oberon rides to the city wall during the battle and demands the Duchess's surrender, which she flatly refuses.

Mona descends from the wall into the fighting to repair the damaged knee of golem Black using raw dough.

Lord Ethan's army arrives after the battle ends, and Joshua credits the bread golems for keeping the city's casualties remarkably low.

From the moment Mona bakes sweet buns for arriving constables just to keep herself busy, her practical resilience defines how she handles every crisis. She meets the legendary Lord Ethan at the palace audience and watches his army depart the city, stripping away the last safety net between Riverbraid and the Carex threat. While hiding in a bell tower, she makes a key discovery about raw dough that will eventually fuel her defensive inventions, and a chance conversation with a deaf priest plants the seed for her boldest plan. During siege preparations, Aunt Tabitha takes charge of the palace kitchens and Bob the sourdough starter is multiplied into barrels of burning defensive ammunition that drives the first Carex assault back from the walls. Mona personally descends into the fighting to repair a wounded bread golem, and after the battle Lord Ethan's army finally arrives to be told that a 14-year-old baker already saved the city.

The supporting moments that shaped Mona's journey.

Mona accidentally brings her sourdough starter Bob to life as a child, creating a living dough creature that has survived ever since.

Mona overhears bakery customers mention that a boy named Sidney, also a magicker, has recently disappeared without any explanation.

Spindle reveals to Mona that a man in green clothing followed Tibbie into the bakery on the night she died.

Spindle confirms Tibbie was also a magicker, leading Mona to suspect the Spring Green Man specifically targets people with minor magical abilities.

The Spring Green Man taunts Mona during his attack, revealing he works directly with Oberon and that Mona is now at the top of his list.

Mona approaches a constable for help after the attack but realizes the constables are actively hunting her on Oberon's orders.

Mona notices in the bell tower that her special gingerbread man has outlasted all previous creations and developed a fiercely protective personality.

Spindle confronts Mona's belief in Riverbraid's tolerance, revealing that most citizens quietly accept Oberon's wizard registry without protest.

The Duchess reveals that only three palace wizards can magically contact Lord Ethan, and one of them is likely the Spring Green Man.

Gildaen tells Mona she is not weak and that wizards have done great deeds with abilities far lesser than working with bread.

Mona finds the magical theory book Spiraling Shadows in Gildaen's quarters, giving her entirely new ideas about the limits of her ability.

Lord Ethan sends Mona a personal note urging her to be brave, declaring that creativity matters as much as raw power in magic.

Harold warns Mona that Elgar has escaped from his wizard-proof prison cell just as the Carex siege begins.

Mona bakes poisoned gingerbread saboteurs, and her special gingerbread man takes command of them and directs their chaos throughout the Carex camp.

Mona crawls toward her dough slug creature intending to sacrifice her life to save the city, but Molly steps forward as the last remaining wizard.

The story turns on a series of hidden truths that slowly reshape Mona's understanding of herself, her city, and her responsibilities. Early hints of vanishing magickers give way to the revelation that the Spring Green Man is not a random killer but Oberon's deliberate instrument — a fact he taunts Mona with during his attack — while the constables she runs to for help turn out to be hunting her instead. Key confrontations strip away Mona's assumptions one by one: the Duchess reveals that Elgar, the likeliest traitor, controls the city's only remaining magical link to Lord Ethan, and the dying Gildaen insists Mona is far stronger than she believes. The magical theory book Spiraling Shadows and a personal note from Lord Ethan together give Mona the confidence and framework to push her abilities past every limit she thought she had. When her final plan requires her to sacrifice her life, it is Molly's quiet intervention that delivers the ultimate turning point, changing the fate of the city forever.