A child with secrets A sorcerer Prince with a broken mind And a woman armed only with courage and wit ... The idyllic world of Avonar reels under the assaults of its ancient foes, two-thirds of its territory a wasteland, its failing magic embodied in the last weak, dissolute prince of its royal bloodline. But a brash mage has taken it upon himself to repair his liege lord's soul. Unfortunately, the Prince of Avonar is left with no memory of himself, much less his homeland or his desperate war. Abandoned in her mundane world, waiting for news of the Prince's recovery, Seri keeps her promise to relay her brother's dying words to his son. But something is clearly wrong with her ten-year-old nephew. Secretive, isolated, angry, the boy shows an inordinate terror of Seri's past connections with sorcerers. Though determined not to care for a child whose life she resents, she finds herself intrigued, and when the boy is abducted by her longtime nemesis, Seri's frenzied pursuit plunges her straight into Avonar's war-and horrors she could never have imagined. All are ensnared by the Lords of Zhev'Na in their plot to destroy D'Arnath's Bridge and plunge two worlds into chaos.