After the abduction of the princess of the Elovoi Fortress, Mara ends up in the blazing Chrisosh—an alien stronghold under the merciless gaze of the sun god, where sand greedily drinks blood, and the local prince meets her with troubling, almost affectionate tenderness. Mourning her dead lover, Mara carries within her a dark gift of the All-Living—power that brings not only life.
In suffocating chambers, among snakes and lions, she learns to speak with poison, to smile through hatred, and to bide her time patiently. To wait for the one who once already gave his life for her. To wait until the spruce grove calls her back through the heat, madness, and sands—home.