Sparhawk, a knight of the Pandion Order, returns to his home city after a decade in exile. His queen, Elana, lies between life and death, poisoned by the high priest Annias, who wants to seize the throne of the head of the church and needs money from the royal treasury. By the magic of Seferenia — a Stryker sorceress and a mentor to the pandion knights — the queen was imprisoned in a huge crystal that sustains her life. However, for this she had to pay a terrible price: the spell was cast with the participation of twelve knights, and each month one of them dies, giving his life to extend the queen’s life.
To save Elana’s life, Sparhawk, his squire Cuéric, Sparhawk’s friend Kelten (a pandion knight), and Seferenia begin searching for a remedy capable of healing the queen. They are joined by knights of three other Warring Orders — the Siriniki knight Bevier, the Alson knight Tynian, and the Gendian knight Uleof. With them goes also Berit, a novice of the Pandion Order, a street thief Telen, and a strange foundling Stryker girl named Fleita...
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