Traveling scribe Jalia and her cat (who is not a cat) Gemmin stumble into a land where winter seems to have settled in permanently, and the people are suffering. With her penchant for problem-solving, she convinces the local Keliph to employ her to find the answer to the curse, and bring summer back. There's a tangle of secrets and lies to be unraveled here, however, and Jalia will need all of her talents (and Gemmin's, as well), to break a witch's icy hold.