Fighting doubt and convention, beset with great challenge and facing profound change, Tellurith leads her displaced House to a new beginning and a different life in Iskarda—a life that includes men and women as equals. But the traditionalist Iskardans are outraged by Tellurith’s policies and appalled by her love for two husbands: Alkhes— the rough, dark Outlander who brought Amberlight its doom—and golden Sarth, epitome of the urbane men of the Amberlight Towers. To achieve Tellurith’s dream, both must re-shape their lives. To preserve the dream, all three must journey to Dhasdein’s imperial capital of Riversend and face deadly menace and perilous machination.