The first book in a brand new trilogy from the author of the Farseer Liveship Traders & Tawny Man trilogies Young Nevare Burvelle is the second son of a second son Traditionally in Gernia the firstborn son is heir to the family fortunes the second son bears a sword & the third son is consecrated to the priesthood Nevare will follow his father
- newly made a lord by the King
- into the cavalry; to the frontier & thence to an advantageous marriage to carry on the Burvelle name It is a golden future & Nevare looks forward to it with relish For twenty years King Troven's cavalry have pushed the frontiers of Gernia out across the grasslands subduing the fierce tribes of the plain on its way Now they have driven the frontier as far as the Barrier Mountains home to the enigmatic Speck people The Specks
- a dapple-skinned forest-dwelling folk
- retain the last vestiges of magic in a world which is becoming progressive & technologised The 'civilised' peoples base their beliefs on a rational philosophy founded on scientific principle & a belief in the good god who displaced the older deities of their world To them the Specks are primeval savages little better than beasts Superstitions abound; it is said that they harbour strange diseases & worship trees Sexual congress with them is regarded as both filthy & foolhardy the Speck plague which has ravaged the frontier has decimated entire regiments All these beliefs will touch Nevare's training at the Academy; but his progress there is not as simple as he would wish He will experience prejudice from the old aristocracy as the son of a 'new noble' he is segregated into a patrol comprising other new nobles' sons all of whom will encounter injustice discrimination & foul play in that hostile & deeply competitive environment In addition his world view will be challenged by his unconventional girl-cousin Epiny; & by the bizarre dreams which visit him at night & then on Dark Evening the circus comes to Old Thares bringing with it the first Specks Nevare has ever seen