In feudal D'shai, your birth determines your status—and your own special magic. There is the Way of the Warrior, the Way of the Runner, and fifty other kazuh. Thus has always been... The Way of D'shai Kami is twice trapped by this rigid caste system. He is a peasant in love with a beautiful daughter of the upper classes. And he is an acrobat with no magical talent for acrobatics. But when he is falsely accused of a nobleman's murder, Kami must defy tradition and find his own special power—and neither he nor D'Shai will ever be the same.

On the eve of a grand royal wedding, a nobleman is killed with a hunting arrow. The priceless tapestries of the bridal keep are stained with blood. And the fatal arrow bears the mark of the prime suspect—the bridegroom himself. Only one person can solve such a crime. A man named Kami, who defied the Fifty-Two Ways of D'Shai... by creating a Fifty-Third profession. The ancient world of D'Shai would call him Discoverer-of-Truth. Today, we would call him one hell of a detective.