With their chieftain dead and his heir cast out at birth, the Wolfe clan is fracturing, and the man holding the pieces together wants Rengara burned to the ground. The Jakadi are massing at the border with plans of their own. The council is pushing for answers Eskil doesn't have. And the one lead they have on the rightful heir points east, toward a farming village two days from hostile territory.
Meanwhile, Morgan is struggling with the aftermath of what happened in the south, Bohdi is drowning under the weight of what he wants from the prince who will not ask anything of him, and Eskil is so consumed by the promise he made on a ship that he cannot see his own family fracturing around him.
When Jakadi warriors take Indrie off the road on his way home, Eskil receives a fistful of dark hair and a demand to negotiate. With Bohdi and Morgan two days east chasing a lead that has already gone cold, the only diplomacy Eskil has left is the kind he's always been best at.
It's never been wise to touch what belongs to the king.