The siege of Arrandin is over, but the war with the East goes on. It falls to Erkal Dortrean to make peace between the Easterner chieftains and the Emperor of Lautun. The Council of Magi, now decimated by the war and beset with its own internal factions, can offer little support. Meanwhile a fragile peace treaty gains the invading Southers a toehold in the city-port of Ellanguan, and Erkal's wife Karlena must pit her wits against Southers and Lautun nobles alike to keep the Empress safe. Erkal's son Kellarn is torn between joining these conflicts and pursuing his own quest for a long-hidden artefact to protect all from the return of a far more deadly demonic adversary. As the immortal Fay are drawn into the affairs of humankind, deeper jealousies and treacheries are revealed and the danger to all the Dortrean family increases.
