Following another successful mission with Kael and his company, Briand is torn between two choices—should she disappear to protect herself or stay with her friends, even though she is not a Monarchist? When she and Kael are arrested as spies and taken to the prince's secret court for trial, everything becomes even more complicated... the Seeker Auberon continues to hunt her in her dreams, Briand's feelings for Kael—and his for her—torment them both as they struggle to trust each other in the midst of secrets and conflicted political loyalties, and then there's a traitor among the nobility who has attempted to assassinate the prince. The punishment for treason is a swift and painful death. And some people seem to think that traitor might be Kael.