Ringil Eskiath scarred wielder of the kiriath-forged broadsword Ravensfriend is a man on the run
- from his past & the family who have disowned him from the slave trade magnates of Trelayne who want him dead & apparently from the dark gods themselves who are taking an interest but making no more sense than they ever have. Outlawed & exiled from his ancestral home in the north Ringil has only one place left to turn
- Yhelteth city heart of the southern Empire where perhaps he can seek asylum with the kiriath half-breed Archeth Indamaninarmal former war comrade & now high-up advisor to the Emperor Jhiral Khimran II. But Archeth Indamaninarmal has problems of her own to contend with as does her house guest bodyguard & one time steppe nomad Egar the Dragonbane. & far from gaining the respite he is seeks Ringil will instead find himself implicated in fresh schemes & doubtful allegiances no safer than those he has left behind. Old enemies are stirring the old order is rotted through & crumbling & though no-one yet knows it the city of Yhelteth is about to explode.. .