Coronus remains at peace for nearly a year, until the day of Lady Agnes and Sir Gregory’s wedding feast, when an attempt is made on Prince Erik’s life right under the noses of the Daemon Knights. At the same time, Magdalen learns that Crystal City is under siege. As their new Empress, she feels duty-bound to undertake the long journey back through the Olaug in order to deal with it. The problem, at least as far as her husband Rodney is concerned, is that she is three moons pregnant.

Wizard Aldus has a problem of his own. In order to undo the spell Gamel cast upon him, which still continues to prevent him from using his gift, he needs to find a Silver Elf. After a year of fruitless searching he has recently discovered where one might be found. He must sail far to the south, beyond the Southern Islands, to a continent that no living person in all of Coronus has ever been to, and that may not even exist. In the midst of all this, something dark is stirring in Carpathia, and Sir Hugh, the two hundred year old former Daemon Knight, is determined to discover what it is. What no one suspects is that an old foe is not quite as dead as they thought, and that these events are all connected.