Orson Scott Card returns to his vision of a magical frontier America. . . Peggy Guester is a Torch, able to see the fire burning in each person's heart. Her power is so great that she can follow the paths of each person's future and know their most intimate secrets. From the moment of Alvi's birth, when Unmaker first strove to kill him, he has been protected by her. Now they are married, and Peggy is part of Alvin's heart as well as his life. But the achievement of Alvin's destiny and the building of the Cristal City he has foreseen, have take Alvin and Peggy on separate journeys. He has gone north into New England, where knacks are considered witchcraft and their use is punished with death. Peggy has been drawn south to the British Crown Colonies and the Court of King Arthur Stuart in exile. She has seen a terrible future bloom in the heart fires of every person in America, and it is Peggy's quest to set the world on the path to peace. But Alvin's younger brother, Calvin, has also come to the Court of Camelot, with his great perverted powers. Peggy's life is at risk, and she has no reason to believe that Calvin will do anything but place her in greater danger.