This tale is the second in the series "Shards of Light" which began with "The Ring and the Flag". Feldspar is famous throughout Cryssigens but no one knows his face. He dares the impossible, following the stealthic's credo "Risk in the service of Hope", and has no objection to the fortune his commissions bring. High intrigue around the succession to the throne of the North Mark has gripped the city. Though Feldspar is bored by politics, he has problems of his own, attempting for the first time to live a normal life among the citizens of the capital. The master of disguise may need to be more than one person before he gets to the bottom of the mysteries running through his mind and the city itself.