As the city walls came into view, I brushed the snow from her pale face. Her grey eyes fluttered open for a moment, then breathlessly she murmured just one word - my name. In that moment I was able to comprehend the danger of which Ajnu had spoken and in that moment a ring of fire closed around my heart. Nina Sims had been walking in the woods with her dog, just like she did most evenings. Through trying to help a friend who had been taken ill, she suddenly finds herself in another world - one she had not known existed, one that filled her with fear and wonder - a place that would not be found in any atlas or on Google maps. Within the high white walls of Alveron, not only does she find the only man who can love her forever, she also learns what ‘forever’ really means. If that is, she can stay out of the clutches of the wildermen or the Ore-els for long enough.

Fren stopped walking and turned to me, brushing my hair off my face with his hand. “Neemna, you have to understand that he will not come back for you. He has been alone too long, through too many lifetimes. He is a warrior, so the call to battle will always be stronger than yours can ever be. You should forget him. It was a mistake.” Perhaps it had been a crazy and beautiful fantasy, to think, even for one moment, that she could lay claim to such a wonderful prize - that she could possibly be enough for someone like Kas’paa - after all, he had gone; he hadn’t waited for her. Nina has returned to Alveron - this time with Cathy and Lizzie in tow - but all is not well there and she is not sure who she can trust. When she discovers that the Ore-els have taken Falco in her place, she embarks on a perilous journey to the desert kingdom.