R'shiel, only daughter of the First Sister of the Blade, rebels against the Sisterhood when her mother's politicking gets too much for her to stomach. Her half-brother, Tarja, a Captain in the Defenders, rebels with her when he learns the secret their mother has kept hidden all these years, and realizes she will stop at nothing to protect it.
Tarja and R'shiel flee for their lives, but soon find themselves caught up in the heathen rebellion against the Sisterhood. With their new allies, their lives take a turn neither could ever have imagined.
Meanwhile, far south in Hythria, the land ruled by the powerful Wolfblade clan, Brakandaran the Halfbreed, the legendary Harshini outcast, is secretly called on by the last hidden remnants of the Harshini to find the demon child, the half-human child of the dead Harshini king, Lorandranek.