Summer is the season of war in the Free Cities.
Marcus is getting out before the fighting starts. His hero days are behind him, and guarding the last caravan out of the city is better than being pressed into service by the local gentry.
Cithrin has a job to do - smuggle the wealth of a nation through a war zone. An orphan raised by the bank, she is the city's last hope of keeping its treasure out of the hands of the invaders.
Geder is more interested in philosophy than swordplay. But in the fires of battle, a hero - or a villain - can be forged from even the most reluctant soldier.
All three have a part to play as a minor summer skirmish threatens to spiral out of control and sweep the entire region onto the Dragon's Path - the path to war.
Book #1 in Daniel Abraham's The Dagger and The Coin series.