No plan survives contact with the enemy. This truism of war remained true in politics as Nua Calen Aiwenor carries out the duty into which she has been entrapped. Tasked with escorting the consort of the Prince to the heart of the empire of God-Emperor Ax'ayact as a sacrificial tribute, she faces the majesty and savagery of the Tlalmok Empire in all its might. Behind her, Kaiji, Priceless, Diana, Sado, and Lodira all face challenges of their own as alliances are formed, fates are changed, and blood is shed.By the end, in the land of Mict'aratz, where life is short and brutal and even the strong can be broken, new wills will be forged, powers will crumble, and a new power will begin its rise on the bones of the dead, and the promise of battles to come.