Tulisieluisen Katrionan elämä äitinsä omistamassa Leinikin majatalossa ei ole herkkua. Töissä hän viihtyy, mutta vaikka hän kuinka yrittäisi hillitä itseään, yhteenotot isäpuolen kanssa ovat aina yhtä kitkeriä. Eräänä päivänä majatalon pihaan saapuu hopeisella hornanhevosella ratsastava arpinen nainen. Kuka on tuo salaperäinen nainen, joka elää miesten tapaan vapaana maailmaa kiertäen? Voisiko Katkin ryhtyä tarunhohtoiseksi bredinariksi, oikeutta jakavaksi viestinviejäksi? Äidillä on Katin varalle aivan muita suunnitelmia - mutta arpiselta naiselta saamaansa hopeakolikkoa hän ei voi unohtaa.

`One day, one day soon, perhaps... one of these brilliant creatures might be hers.` As an apprentice Bredinari, hot-tempered Kat is finally within touching distance of fulfilling her dream - to tame and ride her own hell horse, so that she can carry messages on behalf of the Castle, and help those in need. But then she reads a letter she shouldn`t have read...

In the country of Breda, men are forbidden a home to call their own. They live as nomads, resting only at the mercy of the ruling women. Kat's mother, Tess, the Maestra of Crowfoot Inn, is one of these powerful women and Kat has always known it is her destiny to follow in Tess' footsteps. But then one rain-swept night, a scarred woman comes to Crowfoot riding an extraordinary silver horse and Kat's world is turned upside down. From that moment on it is her burning ambition to become a Bredanari a keeper of the peace and rider of these magnificent creatures. But it isn't easy for a girl from the Vales to fit in at the Bredanari training academy in the big city. Worse still, Kat knows something which has put her life in danger. She has discovered the whereabouts of a dangerous outlaw.Now there are ruthless people who will do anything to keep her from revealing this secret, including leaving her unconscious on Hellhorse Mountain, where the beautiful but deadly stallions run wild. Kat soon finds herself deeply enmeshed in the dangerous plots and politics that threaten her country, not to mention the life of someone she has come to love. This is first of two spellbinding books following Kat's adventures.