The metallic chime of gold coins as they dropped one by one into a traitor's hand. The dull click of a pawn set upon a board. War, famine, dynastic marriage. All part of the game the powerful played with lives and blood and pain. To nine-year-old Alkesra iddri-Lant, the greatest darkness in her life was the absence of her father. Gone for most of her young life, his disappearance meant his beautiful Eldiron wife and two young children were at the mercy of any ambitious petty king who wanted either the Keep or his heir. Everyone demanded a price for their aid and no one in Lant had the coin to pay it. So when the power-hungry clans of the Tækanen marched from the west to destroy the last remnant, the far-seeing Lady Uátha set her daughter's feet on a path that would take her far from home and family. But before Alkesra would win the chance to become the hero Lant needed to live again, a few things needed to happen first...