A year of living as Crown Princess of the Argetallams has taught Janir to watch her words closely and her actions closer. When Saoven and Karile arrive as ambassadors from Brevia, they bring an offer of peace in exchange for putting down a rising threat. Janir urges the royal court to answer their pleas for help and falls under fresh suspicion from her fellow Invulnerables. Loyalties are again torn as her father, the Lord Argetallam, and the other Argetallam nobles are eager to leave Brevia to its fate. But something is lurking on the fringes of Staspin, preparing to strike. And the threat may already be on their doorstep.