' Their realm is held in balance by their union.. . Break that union & the Three Countries will fall apart.' Otori Takeo & Kaede have ruled the Three Countries peacefully for over sixteen years following the events laid out in the epic Tales of the Otori. They have three daughters: Shigeko fifteen years old & heir to the Otori & Maya & Miki thirteen-year-old twins who have inherited the supernatural skills of their father. Kaede knows nothing of the prophecy that Takeo will die at the hands of his son & longs to give him a male child. Nor does she know of the boy he fathered sixteen years ago -- a boy whose heart is filled with hatred & whose skills as a Ghostmaster give him the power to incite the dead. Takeo is determined that clan conflicts will never again ravage the Three Countries but warriors are born to fight: the warlord Arai Zenko has deadly ambitions the Emperor himself has challenged Takeo's rule & despite a delicate truce between the deadly Tribe & the Otori revenge still eats at the heart of renegade leader Kikuta Akio.. . Against these gathering threats Takeo draws strength from his love for Kaede but even this is not beyond the reach of their enemies...