Only the most powerful of warriors possesses the kiai, the spirit cry that can kill a man with a scream... Sent into virtual exile to investigate a murder in Miyako, the Imperial City fifteen days' journey from the shogun's court, Sano undertakes a desperate search for a killer whose method is as terrifying as it is elusive, for how can a cry be a murder weapon? Surrounded by treachery and mounting danger, Sano and Reiko, his spirited new wife, must find safe passage through the mazes of court intrigue - before the repercussions of the violence in Miyako reach all the way to the shogun himself.