When land and food become scarce in Kairael, the country's aging ruler tries desperately to provide for his people while maintaining the peace at a cost not even he can predict. Not only are bandits violently expanding with magical aid, the neighboring countries are in chaos, pirates are on the loose, and the kaiser's health is failing. The fate of the country rests on the shoulders of the rightful heir-and the exile who wants nothing more than to train others in the art of swordplay and to be left in peace. In forty days, all paths will converge. In forty days, the dragons will stir . . .