The best winter solstice ever. Rak, newly come to Okyro and the novitiate, isn’t finding life as a free man as easy as he’d thought it would be. On top of his struggles with his studies, he’s lonely. His dragon had abandoned the love of his life, the bard Tafflynn, during their escape from Zoth. When Rak discovers that his bard isn’t whom he thought, he feels betrayed. The bard had lied to him about who and what he was for years. Is their relationship over, or is their love strong enough to survive the honesty necessary to create a lasting partnership?