Britta has always wanted to be a trader like her father, sailing the nine seas and bringing precious cargo home to Del harbour. Her dreams seemed safe until her fathers quest to find the fabled Staff of Tier ended in blood and horror. Now his shamed family is in hiding, and his ship, the Star of Deltora, belongs to the powerful Rosalyn fleet. But Brittas ambition burns as fiercely as ever.When she suddenly gets the chance to win back her future she knows she has to take it whatever the cost. She has no idea that shadows from a distant, haunted isle are watching her every move.

Aboard the Star of Deltora with her three rivals for the Trader Rosalyn Apprenticeship, Britta knows that she has to keep her wits about her. She desperately wants to win the contest, but of course Jewel, Sky and Vashti feel the same, and of course one of them, she knows, is a ruthless enemy who will stop at nothing to succeed. Britta is ready for trouble, but as the voyage fails to go as planned, and rumours of evil magic sweep her beloved ship, she starts to wonder if she has more to fear than simple human wickedness. And nothing can prepare her for the terror that awaits her in the perilous, forbidden swamplands of Two Moons.

Britta of Del wants nothing less than to be the new Apprentice Trader of the Rosalyn fleet. Family and friends and even the terrible secret of her parentage will not stop her. But how can she succeed when her true identity must surely be guessed by Trader Mab, who knew her father, and the crew of the Star of Deltora? Relying on no more than her wits and the kind acts of friends she makes along the way, Britta is drawn closer and closer to her terrible destiny.

The Star of Deltora has escaped Illica, but home and safety are still very far away. The shadows that haunt the ship are deepening. Strange currents, seen and unseen, are sweeping Britta and her friends into peril. The magic Staff of Tier has sensed them, the Hungry Isle is on the prowl, and Britta's dreams of winning the Rosalyn Apprentice contest will soon be swamped in a tidal wave of terror. Lives hang in the balance and shock follows shock as Britta's quest to escape her past reaches its tumultuous climax. Book 4 in the spellbinding Star of Deltora Series.