The High Councilor's administrator and chief of security, I'lle and Taarl successfully test for the Lar mastery and take a vacation to celebrate. While on that vacation, Taarl pops the question and their lives change forever. They decide to honeymoon on Elos where they will visit the mud pits and plan to create a sculpture of their own. Torl and Lia surprise them with a gift of luxury accommodations and a first class tour of the planet, but their honeymoon is viewed by others as an opportunity. When Taarl wakes one morning to find his new wife missing, he brings all his skills and resources to bear as he desperately tries to find and rescue her before Torl learns of the incident. It is a race against time as he knows Torl will tear the realm apart to recover I'lle as soon as he learns she is missing.