Young Princess Nezhdana dreams of her mother recovering, hoping life will return to its former course. She suffers from her father’s indifference and his obvious desire to get rid of both his sick wife and his daughter. To make matters worse, Nezhdana learns that her father intends to marry her off and send her mother to a distant monastery. The girl assumes her father is planning to marry again. Taking advantage of an opening to go to the city fair, Nezhdana asks for help from the residents of the Secret Rows, who for a fee point her to masters of all kinds of ailments, including the apothecary Lesyar. But the young princess didn’t know that the magical dwellers have their own accounts with Lesyar, and that helping her mother could turn into Ancient Evil—stirred by an careless word from the girl.