A difficult winter draws to a close across the Empire, the army is broken after the last wars, rumours of rebellion come in from the west, whilst sudden storms and frosts are threatening this year's crops. The new Empress, Felica, knows this is no time for indecision, but it is no easy thing, being the country's first female ruler, all around her seem to be plots and schemes, it will take much work to secure her position, and start rebuilding the Empire, bigger and better than it ever was before, if she wants to be remembered throughout history. And as if that all was not enough, stories abound of strange goings on in distant Belsaen, and of trouble rising once more in the Kar'ath desert. Meanwhile, Tylis and Leuan continue their efforts, though the work has stalled with Raes' reluctance to tell them anything useful. It seems the only hope they have to save themselves another three years, or more, is a strange new magical contraption built by a young sorcerer, and even this seems to fail in providing any useful results. Then, it starts to seem someone with considerable influence has taken an interest in their activities. Elsewhere, Harath dreams of adventure, or at least of restoring his rather run down neighbourhood, Kalen draws unwanted attention while Leuan finds himself caught up in the ongoing assassins guild conflict. Cathan sees herself considering a return to her old life, and it begins to seem that setting up an entire new magician's guild is more difficult than they had first thought.